UCSF Fresno accepting applications for high school biomedical research program

FRESNO – UCSF Fresno is accepting applications for its 23rd Summer Biomedical Research Internship Program (SBI), which provides Central San Joaquin Valley high school students an opportunity to gain first-hand experience with careers in medicine and valuable research skills. Students in their junior year of high school who live in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties are eligible to apply.

Selected students will work with UCSF Fresno faculty members from June through August 2010 on a variety of research projects in the Fresno area. Last year, nine students were assigned to research projects involving pediatric thrombosis, pneumonia, Valley Fever, ovarian cancer, and diabetes.

In addition to conducting research, students in the program visit the University of California, San Francisco campus as well as observe a surgical procedure at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.

Since it was established in 1988, more than 192 high-achieving students have graduated from the Summer Biomedical Research Internship Program. Many of the SBI graduates are now health professionals. A number of them have returned to the Valley and are working as doctors, pharmacists and nurses.

Students are selected based on academic merit, questionnaire responses, interviews, and letters of recommendation from their teachers. Every participant will be awarded a stipend, thanks to the generosity of the Bertha and John Garabedian Foundation.

The application deadline is Friday, January 29, 2010. To obtain an application or more information, please visit http://www.fresno.ucsf.edu/sbi/ or contact Sharon Hutchinson at (559) 499-6414.