One of the Stanford Cancer Institute’s core values is empowering the next generation of cancer scientists to find innovative solutions that improve patient outcomes. To uphold this value, we offer robust support to students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty to educate and prepare them to address the challenges in their field.
Sei Lee, PhD, is the Stanford Cancer Institute’s point of contact for cancer training and education. She works closely with graduate students, postdocs, and fellows enrolled in Stanford’s cancer training programs. She has made a concerted effort to build partnerships with the local high schools and other two- and four-year institutions in the Bay Area to diversify the cancer research community.
She says, “We support trainees in whatever stage they’re at. Whether high school or junior faculty, we’re here to help them find the career pathway that makes sense for them, whether it’s academia or industry, by connecting them with available programs, fellowships, and funding, and helping them network and build connections.”
Undergraduate program for career exploration
The Stanford Cancer Institute Summer Undergraduate Program pairs Stanford undergraduates with a Stanford cancer faculty member for a six-week research experience in a Stanford cancer lab. Students grow their research skills and explore cancer-relevant career tracks. Lee notes that faculty mentors are actively engaged with one of the Stanford Cancer Institute research programs, are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles, and have extensive mentoring experience.
Students and mentors are matched based on the student’s interest area and the mentor’s specialty. Lee says that being intentional about this matching leads to a better learning experience with a stronger prospect that the student will pursue further training in a cancer-relevant career track.
Students also attend Stanford Cancer Institute events, such as the Breakthroughs in Cancer seminar series and luncheons with seminar speakers, and have the opportunity to share their summer research project at the Stanford Cancer Institute’s annual Comprehensive Cancer Research Training Program. After the summer program concludes, with the Associate Trainee Stanford Cancer Institute membership, students are kept informed of relevant opportunities and events to continue growing their research skills and knowledge.
The program was initiated by Stanford Cancer Institute Director Steven Artandi, MD, PhD. He says, “We recognize that to make groundbreaking discoveries in cancer science, it’s critical to ensure the next generation has the tools and confidence to tackle the field’s most challenging and pressing questions. We give Stanford undergraduate students real-world research experience in a cancer lab to prepare them for their graduate studies. Our team is pleased to host the Stanford Cancer Institute Undergraduate Summer Program and connect undergraduate students with cancer faculty members. This year’s program has been a success, with both students and faculty members finding the program a meaningful learning experience.”
Lee says they have a competitive pool of applicants each year that continues to grow through outreach efforts and word of mouth. They’ve grown the program to include seminars on topics such as data management and reproducibility and rigor, which are provided in partnership with the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute.
Lee hopes to expand the program by opening it to Bay Area community colleges and universities to provide equitable opportunities for students from underrepresented groups across the Bay Area. The near-future plan is to secure funding to support a larger cohort of students.
Mentee Jason Cui, whose mentor was Artandi, says of the program, “The Stanford Cancer Institute Undergraduate Summer Program provided me an opportunity to conduct meaningful and substantial research over the summer. I made significant progress in my research project, as the summer provided me time to work uninterrupted and full-time. This program also made a significant effort to connect me with other undergraduate researchers and guest speakers, something that was invaluable.”
Summer programs to improve equity and inclusion in cancer research
The Stanford Cancer Institute’s summer program in partnership with Historically Black Medical Colleges aims to foster lifelong interactions and collaborations between the larger Stanford Medicine and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) partner institutions. The program is part of Stanford Medicine’s Racial Equity to Advance Community of Health (REACH) Initiative, which helps scholars obtain valuable research experience and grow their professional networks. Stanford Cancer Institute leader Terrance Mayes, EdD, and Stanford School of Medicine’s Dean Lloyd Minor, MD, lead the REACH initiative.
The Stanford Cancer Institute hosts and funds five rising second-year medical students from Howard University College of Medicine and Morehouse School of Medicine to participate in an eight-week research program with a Stanford Cancer Institute faculty member. Visiting scholars and faculty members are matched based on mutual research interests.
Scholars also participate in Stanford Cancer Institute-sponsored learning and networking opportunities, including luncheons with the Stanford Cancer Institute leadership team, and Stanford School of Medicine events with visiting HBMC students matched with different School of Medicine departments.
Lee says, “One of the aims of this program is to increase diversity and inclusion in medical training and research. The program seeks to further research skills of medical students and increase exposure to cancer-relevant career tracks and cancer subspecialization, further strengthening the educational pathway and diversifying the cancer workforce. We support the scholars not only through a stipend but also by inviting students to foster long-term relationships with the Stanford Cancer Institute principal investigators, which can translate into other academic, personal, and professional development opportunities.”
Stanford Cancer Institute member Manali Patel, MD, MPH, MS, FASCO, served as a mentor in 2023 to Mikalah Thomas, a Morehouse medical student. Thomas recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual conference on the work she completed with Patel on lung cancer and precision medicine and was honored with the 2024 ASCO Special Merit Award, which is presented to trainees who have top-ranking abstracts.
Mentee Elisse Kumah of Howard University College of Medicine, whose mentor was Stanford Cancer Institute member Monte Winslow, PhD, said of her experience, “I had little previous research experience and wanted a chance to see what it was like. I wanted to see what it was like working in a lab and seeing all the planning, collaboration, and logistics that went into designing an experiment and publishing results. The most rewarding part of the program was the opportunity to network with other professionals and learn more about the field. This program helped give me perspective on what to expect when partaking in research. My goal is to eventually be a clinician, but should I decide to incorporate research into my work, now I'll be more prepared to plan and design projects that align with my career goals.”
Funding opportunities to promote innovative research
Lee helps facilitate connections that utilize the rich resources and funding opportunities at the Stanford Cancer Institute. Ilil Carmi, PhD, research development strategist and grant writer at the Stanford Cancer Institute, supports trainees seeking funding for their research by helping with proposal development and grant applications. The Stanford Cancer Institute also supports several doctoral programs and offers internal fellowship and award opportunities, all geared towards supporting individuals in their current and future cancer-relevant career stages.
The Stanford Cancer Biology PhD program, for example, is under the Stanford Cancer Institute umbrella and receives National Cancer Institute funding through a T32 grant. All additional funding is through the Stanford Cancer Institute, including salary support for staff, annual retreat, and other program operations.
The Stanford Cancer Institute provides annual SCI Fellowship Awards to fund trainees’ research projects and prepare them for faculty positions. Stanford junior faculty member Jennifer Caswell-Jin, MD, is an example of a previous trainee who received a Fellowship Award, which she received as a postdoc in Stanford Cancer Institute member Christina Curtis’s, PhD, lab.
The Stanford Cancer Institute’s Innovation Awards is a funding opportunity that provides salary support to Stanford faculty members, thus encouraging cancer trainees to work on the funded projects. Patel points to the recent recognition of one of her mentees, Stanford resident Maria Hanna, MD, PhD, who worked on Patel’s SCI Innovation Award-sponsored work on cancer health equity. She presented the results at the ASCO annual meeting and received a 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Award. Additionally, another one of Patel’s mentees, Emily Wood, MPH, also received an ASCO Merit Award and presented her research that was mentored by Patel and a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the Stanford Cancer Institute.
Kekoa Taparra, MD, PhD, a resident in radiation oncology, collaborated with Patel on a Stanford Cancer Institute Women's Cancer Center Innovation Award project focusing on cancer disparities among the United States Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population. He has won numerous awards, including “The Next Big Thing” NextGen Innovator Award and an ASCO Annual Merit Award, for further advancing research and providing focused patient care for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander populations. Additionally, he serves on various committees, such as the Stanford Cancer Institute’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) advisory committee to advance DEI principles within the Stanford Cancer Institute and beyond.
Patel says, “I want to highlight the role the Stanford Cancer Institute plays in providing opportunities to support the training of junior members and trainees in projects focused on equity in cancer. The national recognition that our trainees receive is important for their future careers in this space and is evidence of the positive impact of these opportunities.”
September 2024
By Katie Shumake
