REU Site: BME Community of Undergraduate Research Scholars for Cancer (BME CUReS Cancer)

该项目更广泛的意义：当前项目的一个基本主题是，治疗癌症学者将在他们的夏季经历中为基本理解癌症发展、预防和治疗的物理原理做出贡献，但更重要的是，他们将继续在多学科团队中工作，这些研究人员来自医学、生物科学、物理科学、工程和保健领域的不同领域，以促进人类健康。这种能力是生物医学工程的一个标志，将对学者们各自的科学领域以及我们社会的健康产生积极的影响。增加来自代表不足群体的博士人数，也是增加少数族裔榜样的关键一步，反过来又能让学术工程文化对代表不足的少数族裔和女性更具吸引力。这个REU网站的一个主要特点是与德克萨斯4000建立了合作伙伴关系，德克萨斯4000是一个培养学生领袖并让社区参与抗击癌症的非营利性组织。与德克萨斯4000的合作将提高公众对癌症研究的认识，特别是物理科学和工程如何积极影响健康。项目描述：“BME本科生癌症研究学者社区(BME治愈癌症)”的科学主题，REU网站正在利用生物医学工程在肿瘤学中开辟一个新的前沿。该项目由工程教育和中心司支持，为期三个暑期，从5月底至8月初，每年暑期10周。这种经历的重点是正在崛起的大三学生，特别是来自传统上在工程学方面代表性较低的群体的学生。BME治疗癌症学者能够从36个不同的实验室中选择合适范围的项目，这些实验室代表了与癌症研究相关的广泛研究课题，如生物材料、药物输送、光学成像、超声波和医学中的人工智能。这一主题是根据2008年国家癌症研究所的一次会议选择的，会上确定了在癌症研究方面取得进展的一些障碍。会议的结果是一系列“战略行动”，这些行动代表了需要应对的科学挑战。在2008年NCI会议报告之后，人们越来越广泛地认识到，了解支配所有物质行为的一系列物理定律和原理如何在每个尺度上对癌症起作用，将对理解和控制癌症至关重要。癌症是一种复杂的疾病，特别是工程学原理是为了研究、模拟和解决复杂的问题而开发的。因此，生物医学工程学是唯一能够做出重大智力贡献的学科。这些关键的调查路线被用来组织我们的癌症学者社区，朝着共同的目标和协同行动。这个项目的智力价值在于用工程学的方法解决癌症研究中的这些关键挑战。

BROADER SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT:An underlying theme of the current project is that CUReS Cancer Scholars will make contributions towards fundamental understanding of the physical principles of cancer development, prevention, and treatment during their summer experience, but more importantly, will go on in their careers to function in multi-disciplinary teams of researchers from disparate fields in medicine, biological science, physical science, engineering, and healthcare fields to advance human health. This ability is a hallmark of Biomedical Engineering and will positively impact Scholars' respective scientific fields as well as the health of our society. Increasing the number of PhDs from underrepresented groups is also a critical step toward increasing minority role models, in turn making the academic engineering culture more appealing to underrepresented minorities and women. A key feature of this REU site is the development of a partnership with Texas 4000, a non-profit organization that cultivates student leaders and engages communities in the fight against cancer. The partnership with the Texas 4000 will increase public awareness of cancer research, in particular how physical science and engineering positively impact healthcare.PROJECT DESCRIPTION:The scientific theme of the "BME Community of Undergraduate Research Scholars for Cancer (BME CUReS Cancer)," REU Site is leveraging Biomedical Engineering to Open a New Frontier in Oncology. This project is supported by the Division of Engineering Education and Centers for three summers, for 10 weeks each summer, from late May to early August. The focus of this experience is rising juniors, particularly students from groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering. BME CUReS Cancer Scholars are able to choose a project of appropriate scope from 36 different labs representing a wide range of research topics pertinent to cancer research, such as biomaterials, drug delivery, optical imaging, ultrasound, and artificial intelligence in medicine. This topics were selected based on a 2008 National Cancer Institute meeting where a number of barriers to achieving progress in cancer research were identified. The result of the meeting was a series of "strategic actions" that represent scientific challenges that need to be addressed. Following the NCI Meeting Report of 2008 it is becoming more broadly recognized that understanding how the range of physical laws and principles governing the behavior of all matter are operative in cancer at every scale will be critical to understanding and controlling cancer. Cancer is a disease of complexity and engineering principles in particular are developed to study, model, and solve complex problems. Hence, Biomedical Engineering is uniquely poised to make a significant intellectual contribution. These critical lines of investigation are used to organize our community of cancer Scholars towards shared goals and synergistic activities. The intellectual merit of this project is in addressing these key challenges in cancer research using an engineering approach.