The Latino & African-American High School Internship Program at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in California allows young students the chance to do original research in the hospital’s labs.
According to the LA Times:
Under the watch of professionals, they conduct their own research in the hospital’s laboratories. A pair of students have spent weeks conducting research on bacterial meningitis among infants; others have studied cancer and HIV. Some have analyzed how the human lung develops, while another researched eye tumors.
The program began in 2005, after Dr. Emil Bogenmann, a Swiss-born molecular scientist, recognized a lack of diversity among students in a similar program he led for students from the Marlborough School, a private all-girls institution in Hancock Park. He decided then to build a program that would aggressively recruit minority public school students from underrepresented areas of Los Angeles County.
Students may only apply from the Los Angeles and Compton Unified School Districts. The program not only includes the research opportunities, but also SAT prep courses, financial aid and college counseling workshops.
About 100 students apply for 16 spots every year, and over time, a total of 77 students have taken part in the program. For more information about the program click here.
[Image Via Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR)]
Sara Inés Calderón is a journalist and writer who lives between Texas and California. Follow her on Twitter @SaraChicaD.
