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1992.05.18 :  Science Enrichment Programs

Contact: NCI Press Office (301) 496-6641
May 18, 1992

        HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced
the selection of three universities to receive contracts from the
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., to create
regional summer Science Enrichment Programs for high school
students from underrepresented minority and medically underserved
populations.  The goal of the program is to provide "hands-on"
experiences that will show students the career possibilities in
biomedical science.
        The University of Southern California, the University of
Kentucky, and the University of Massachusetts each received two-
year awards to fund 40 to 50 students from minority and medically
underserved populations in summer programs for 1992 and 1993. 
The contracts contain a federal government option for an
additional two years of funding.
        The programs will provide classroom and laboratory
experiences in subjects such as chemistry, mathematics, physics,
biology, computer science, and language arts.  The summer
enrichment programs also enhance the classroom experiences with
special seminars, group research projects, visits to research
centers, and cultural field trips.
        "We need to develop additional opportunities similar to
the Science Enrichment Program to stimulate the interest of our
nation's youth in the sciences and to support them in their
efforts to reach their potential in ways that will improve the
health of our nation," said Dr. Sullivan.  "By encouraging them
to believe they can have careers in medicine and science, we are
reinforcing the opportunities they have to become future
leaders."
        The Science Enrichment Program is based on a two-year
pilot program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute in 1990
and 
1991.  Approximately 250 nationally selected students lived
in dormitories during the summer sessions at Hood College in
Frederick, Md.  Their varied ethnic backgrounds included Alaskan
Native, American Indian, Asian refugee, African-American,
Hispanic, Native Hawaiian, American Samoan, and Caucasian
(largely from Appalachia).  That program demonstrated that the
students who participated in the summer Science Enrichment
Program showed increased interest in taking science courses.
        The Science Enrichment Program is supported at the
National Institutes of Health by the National Cancer Institute,
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National
Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the
National Institute on Aging, the Division of Research Grants, and
the Office of Research on Women's Health.  The National Cancer
Institute will manage the contracts.
        The University of Southern California in Los Angeles will
receive $576,272 for the two-year contract.  The principal
investigator is John Davis, Ph.D.

        The University of Massachusetts at Amherst will receive
$957,340.  The principal investigator is Donald F. St. Mary,
Ph.D.
        The University of Kentucky Research Foundation will
receive $690,662.  The principal investigator is Donald Frazier,
Ph.D.
        The National Cancer Institute is the federal government's
principal agency for research on cancer causes, prevention,
diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation and for distributing
information about cancer.  It is one of 13 research institutes
that are part of the National Institutes of Health, and one of
the eight Public Health Service agencies in HHS.

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