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

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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.