Educational Pathways for Cancer Research (EPCR) - The aim of Educational Pathways for Cancer Research (EPCR) at the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center (IUSCCC) and Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) School of Education is to provide cancer research career pathways for students in a manner that ultimately increases the quantity of the biomedical workforce. This aim will be achieved by focusing on three goals: 1) Prepare middle level teachers and informal educators to provide their students with the prerequisite knowledge and dispositions toward medical research; 2) Provide high school teachers with integrated laboratory research experience and curriculum development opportunities to enhance their biology and cancer-related teaching skills and to create excitement for their students for science-related careers; and 3) Provide mentored, high-quality, cancer-focused research experiences along with didactic and professional development workshops to high school and early undergraduate students to prepare them for medicine-, or cancer-related fields. To address goal 1, we will include 45 urban and rural middle level teachers and informal educators engaging in practicum experiences involving 1,700 middle grade students, teachers, parents and community members in summer camps, afterschool programs, and public-school classrooms engaging in project-based research activities, specifically highlighting cancer research. To address goal 2, using our established relationships with local high school teachers, we will provide four weeks of laboratory research experience and participation in curriculum development activities that integrate cancer-related topics into the state curriculum to 15 high school teachers. Relationships with teachers and their schools will continue throughout the year through field trips and school trips. To address goal 3, 30 high school/undergraduate trainees will be recruited every year to spend three months for each of two years performing cancer research. Project trainees will gain enhanced laboratory and research skills, including appreciation of the cancer research enterprise and patient care, understanding of career opportunities, and a long-term academic relationship with mentors. Program evaluation will periodically assess EPCR for meeting benchmarks and achieving milestones. Benchmarks include development of cancer-related curriculum at middle school and high school levels, advancement in careers of middle school and high school teachers that can be attributed to participation in EPCR, and our high school and undergraduate trainees pursuing careers in health sciences, particularly cancer research. Thirty-two faculty members with research programs and mentoring experience will serve as mentors and additional faculty will be recruited as needed. EPCR continues the success of our previous similar programs and expands the scope to fulfill the mission of the IUSCCC to educate students and teachers in Indiana in biomedical research who will become ambassadors for cancer knowledge.
