UMGCCC faculty,
I am pleased to announce that we received a NCI ‘Youth Enjoy Science’ (YES) R25 grant to fund the CAncer Training Affecting Lives of Young Scientists and Teachers (CATALYST) program that supports cancer-focused research and education for the middle school component of the UMB CURE Scholars Program. Drs. Clement and Sally Adebamowo and I comprise the MPI team.
An integral piece of CATALYST is hands-on cancer summer research by middle school teachers in UMGCCC labs. Working with the UMB CURE curriculum coordinator, teacher projects will be designed with the goal of developing middle school workshops and community education material related to their research.
UMGCCC faculty research mentors are critical to the implementation of this aim and I am writing to request your help in making the program a success. We anticipate recruiting just 1-2 teachers/year each of whom will commit to 2 summers of research; thus, a maximum of 4 teachers will be conducting research in a given summer. Mentors receive a supply allowance of $500/teacher and will have the opportunity to interview teacher applicants before accepting them as summer trainees. Mentors can partner with other faculty in developing projects for one or more teachers.
I attached the flyer for teacher recruitment that contains a description of the CATALYST program. The Research Logix portal for teacher applications is now live and we will conduct interviews on a rolling basis. We plan to have mentor matching complete by early spring.
I hope you will consider serving as a teacher mentor. Beyond being the ‘right thing to do’, this cancer-focused training will strengthen your CV, funding applications and APT credentials. Please contact Bret Hassel with any questions.