Research Experience

• Regular Mentorship: It is important that a person in the research environment be identified as the student’s day to day contact or mentor. This person should know what the Principal Investigator has planned for the student and must be available to spend time working with the student. It is also important that the PI spend a small amount of time each week with the student.
• Project Identification: Prior to the student’s arrival, mentors will identify a project, or a portion of a project, for the student to work on.
• Research Experience: Mentors will be responsible for ensuring that students obtain a hands-on wet, dry, or clinical research experience in a cancer research laboratory/environment.
• Evaluation: In addition, mentors will be responsible for completing a written evaluation of the student’s experience and progress.
• Program Support: Mentors will be responsible for encouraging and ensuring that students attend and actively participate in programing provided by the leadership team such as scientific and professional/career development seminars with researchers and physicians. In addition students will participate in site visits to various biotech/pharmaceutical firms.
• Access to Resources: Provide students with articles regarding the lab’s historical and current research activities. Our students are eager for information and want to get going with their hands-on research!
• Networking and Inclusion: Include the students in the regular activities of the lab/department. Students will find it valuable to get to meet and know a wide variety of faculty, students, and post docs and will benefit from opportunities to observe research practice and culture.

ABSTRACT AND Presentation PREPARATION

• Mentors will be expected to assist students in preparing a scientific abstract on their research projects to be published in a program booklet for their final presentations in the last week of the summer.

• Mentors will be expected to assist the students in the preparation of a polished scientific oral presentation, either a poster or 10-12 minute PowerPoint scientific talk on their research project. This includes, but is not limited to, review of the presentation for accuracy, layout, and the student’s ability to orally present the materials.
• Student presentations will take place during the last week of the program. Mentors and fellow research staff are highly encouraged to attend their student’s presentation.

Work Schedule/Attendance

• The program for undergraduates will begin in mid-to-late May, and for high school students the program will start in late June. This is a full-time experience – the mentor and the student will agree upon workday hours.

• A portion of the workday hours (~10hr/week) will be dedicated to participation in wrap around programming with CURE staff.

• Mentors will be expected to ensure that their students are present and on time for every scheduled workday.

CURE staff will provide ongoing support to mentors and students. For questions, please contact iecd@partners.org.

“Being a CURE mentor has been a tremendously positive experience. The opportunity to work with enthusiastic and eager new scientists that bring such diverse backgrounds to the program is very rewarding. Not only is it energizing to work with students in the CURE team, each summer I learn something new about how to mentor, teach, or think about research and also see meaningful outcomes from the projects that the students complete.”
-Meghan Underhill, PhD (DFCI)

“The CURE Program is a unique opportunity to engage with the scientists of the future. They are a talented, ambitious group of students with an impressive work ethic. We hosted Alex Thompson in our lab over the summer, and his research revealed a novel pathway to kill leukemic cells. The program is opening doors to careers in medical research but it is also helping to defeat cancer in the process.”
-Ben Croker, PhD (BCH)

“It was such a pleasure to be involved with the CURE program. Our high school student brought levels of energy and enthusiasm to the lab that were inspirational. Her hard work also delivered results. CURE is providing well-rounded scientific training to talented students, at a pivotal, early stage. Additionally, as a supervisor I felt well-supported: I welcomed the high quality mentorship training offered by CURE - it made a valuable contribution to my own career development.”
-Tracy Underwood, PhD (MGH)

I was impressed with the poster presentations. The posters were well designed, the science was good, and the ability of the students to explain their work was impressive. It felt as if I was at a scientific meeting.
-Nina Irwin, PhD (BCH)

The [CURE] program is great. The mixture of seminars, journal clubs, and research provide a unique opportunity compared with other summer programs I am familiar with.
-A. Michael Sismour, PhD (HMS)

We were very impressed with the organization and commitment of the program administration. The final presentations from the students were inspiring and educational, giving us a broader understanding of the scope of research training supported by the program. The program has a number of unique features compared to other summer research programs in which we have previously participated, and it was a pleasure for us to participate.
-Melissa Thomas, MD, PhD (MGH)