Health Sciences Research Training Program
The Research Training Program is an unpaid educational experience for the students/trainees designed to foster their interest in areas of science, medicine, and other health professions. Specific structures will vary according to the trainee's individual educational goals. Our program aims to develop familiarity with clinical and/or basic science research in a specific field, to learn basic laboratory or clinical research skills, to acquire skills in the presentation and dissemination of biomedical knowledge, and learn about and understand the nature of health care provided by our faculty.
The Research Training Program is operating under a modified status.
CampBioE
CampBioE is an immersive summer camp that provides middle and high school students with a hands-on opportunity to explore bioengineering and regenerative medicine. The camp capitalizes on the great scientific minds of the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering to develop a curriculum that utilizes regenerative aspects of the natural world – such as starfish repairing injured arms and reptiles regrowing severed tails - and current research topics in bioengineering to explore how state-of-the-art research can be applied to human medicine and treatment. The camp is designed to not only expose students to science, but to show them that STEM can be fun, exciting and something that they could pursue as a career.
DiSCoBio Summer Academy (Department of Computational and Systems Biology)
DiSCoBio introduces rising high school juniors and seniors to the emerging fields of research that use both computational and experimental approaches to answer questions in cancer biology and related areas. In addition to having a primary research experience, scholars will learn about fundamental concepts in cancer biology, drug discovery, and computational and systems biology and gain hands-on training in the tools and techniques central to these disciplines. We also provide professional development activities to help prepare scholars for careers in science and/or medicine. Stipend support is available for some students. An activity fee may apply.
Health Career Scholars Academy
This is a four-week residential academic program held in June and July at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine for high school students interested in learning more about health care careers. The program focuses on exposing students to the world of health care, including issues of primary care, prevention, public health, and a wide variety of career opportunities in the field. Students must be a current high school sophomore or junior and at least 15 years of age at the time of application. The program accepts 100 students per year. Applications are available on the website beginning each October and the deadline is mid-February.
The Hillman Academy (UPMC Hillman Cancer Center)
This is an eight-week program for rising high school seniors and exceptional rising high school juniors that provides fifty-six students with unique and complex research learning experiences in areas including cancer biology, women's cancer, tumor immunology, drug discovery (see DiSCoBio, above), and Computer Sciences, Biological Sciences & Biological Informatics (CoSBBI).
Associated programs include the Doris Duke Foundation Academy for Clinical Research Program, which provides clinical and translational research experiences for rising high school seniors from backgrounds underrepresented in the health sciences; the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP), which will engage scholars in cutting edge studies designed to discern the origins of and develop solutions for disparities in health care; and the Center for Integrated Oncology-Cologne/Bonn Academy (CIO), focusing largely on leukemias and lymphomas in Germany.