Summer Undergraduate Program to Educate Radiation Scientists (SUPERS)

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管放射治疗是用于治疗癌症的三种主要方式之一，但在过去三十年中，放射生物学或物理学领域的活跃研究人员数量有所下降。 这一关键 最近一次题为“国家危机：辐射专业人员在哪里？由NCRP和DOE赞助（贝塞斯达马里兰州，2013年7月17日）。 在宾夕法尼亚大学（SUPERS@PENN）的夏季本科生计划，教育辐射科学家被提议作为一种手段，开始扭转这一公认的危机。我们假设，通过为本科生提供一个支持性的环境，教他们癌症和辐射生物学，物理学和成像的基础，在他们的大学生涯的早期，我们将鼓励这些学生中的相当一部分最终追求癌症和辐射研究作为职业道路。 我们总体目标的关键部分是从各种代表性不足的人群中确定和招募参与者，从而促进辐射科学家之间的更大多样性。该项目最初于2009年提交，得到了研究部门的大力支持（得分11，1.0百分位），并于2010年获得了NIH的资助。我们已经成功地达到了最初提交的目标，我们的校友中有很大一部分（包括少数民族，社会经济贫困和女性）现在已经进入研究生课程，并继续专注于癌症和辐射研究的最终职业生涯。我们这次竞争性更新的目标是继续在这些早期成功的基础上再接再厉。根据每个学生的兴趣和经验定制的个性化研究项目仍然是SUPERS计划的核心组成部分。此外，来自癌症生物学、辐射生物学、辐射物理学和癌症成像领域的教师专家的教学讲座提供了一个 四个小时的生物伦理学培训将被纳入教学系列讲座，根据NIH的要求。该方案早期成功的一个关键是强有力的评估和评价组成部分。与佩雷尔曼医学院学术课程评估和评估办公室的同事合作，SUPERS开发了一种方法来衡量该计划对学生参与者的直接和长期影响，因为他们从本科过渡到学士后学习，并最终进入他们研究生涯的早期阶段。我们预计，我们将对从事癌症和辐射相关研究的下一代科学家的数量、质量和多样性产生积极影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite the fact that radiation therapy is one of the three primary modalities used in the treatment of cancer, the active number of researchers in the fields of radiation biology or physics has declined over the past three decades. This critical unmet need for well-trained radiation scientists was underscored by a recent workshop entitled "National Crisis: Where are the Radiation Professionals?" sponsored by the NCRP and DOE (Bethesda Maryland, July 17, 2013). The Summer Undergraduate Program to Educate Radiation Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania (SUPERS@PENN) was proposed as a means to begin to reverse this recognized crisis. We hypothesize that by providing undergraduate students with a supportive environment that teaches them the underpinnings of cancer and radiation biology, physics and imaging, early in their college careers, that we will encourage a significant number of these students to ultimately pursue cancer and radiation research as a career path. Key part of our overall objective is to identify and recruit participats from various underrepresented populations, thereby promoting greater diversity among radiation scientists. Initially submitted in 2009, the program obtained strong support from study section (score 11, 1.0 percentile) and received NIH funding in 2010. We have successfully met the proposed aims from the initial submission, with a large percentage of our alumni (including minority, socioeconomically underprivileged and females) having now moved on to graduate programs, with a continued focus on an eventual career in cancer and radiation research. Our goal for this competitive renewal is to continue to build upon these early successes. Individualized research projects tailored to each student's interests and experience remain as the core component of the SUPERS program. In addition, didactic lectures from faculty experts in the fields of cancer biology, radiation biology, radiation physics and cancer imaging provide a foundation for students to build on. Four hours of bioethics training will be incorporated into th didactic lecture series, as per NIH requirements. One key to the early success of the program is the strong assessment and evaluative component. Working with colleagues in the Office of Evaluation and Assessment in the Academic Programs at the Perelman School of Medicine, SUPERS has developed methodologies to measure the immediate and long term impact of the program on student participants as they transition from undergraduate to post- baccalaureate studies and eventually into the early part of their research careers In summary, by completing the specific aims underlying this proposal, we anticipate that we will have a positive impact on quantity, quality and diversity of the next generation of scientists engaged in cancer and radiation-related research.