Hollings Cancer Center Trains students


High School Students Experience
A SUMMER y SCIENCE
Hollings Cancer Center researchers work
side-by-side with students to prepare them
for collegiate and career success
hen this summer started,
Deanna Jackson
didn’t know tamoxifen from
oxidative stress.
W
The most complicated
computer program that Jackie
Mendez Coutino had probably
used was Google Docs.
Now, after two months
immersed in cancer research at
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center,
the high school juniors from
Charleston Charter School for
Math + Science are on their way
to becoming experts.
include North Charleston High
School, St. John’s High School
and Charleston Charter.
It’s part of Hollings’ mission
to train the next generation
of biomedical researchers and
to encourage bright minds
from a variety of backgrounds
to consider scientific careers.
As the only NCI-designated
cancer center in South Carolina,
Hollings has a unique focus
on research, education and
patient care.
They are part of the South
Carolina Cancer Health Equity
Research Training Youth
Jackie Coutino and Dr. Ashvita Garg
Enjoy Science program — SC
CHEER YES for short — that gives
Jackson and Coutino both have
high school students from four
an interest in medical fields.
Charleston County high schools the opportunity for mentoring
Jackson would like to become a veterinarian, and Coutino wants
by cancer researchers. Through the two-year program, they learn
to become a psychiatrist. Although this summer didn't necessarily
about recent advancements in cancer research and get college
change their intended career paths, it exposed them to research
and career guidance — all while earning a stipend.
work and an academic health environment.
The program, developed and run by Marvella E. Ford, Ph.D.,
associate director of Population Science and Community
Outreach and Engagement at Hollings, grew from the success of
South Carolina Continuing Umbrella of Research Experience (SC
CURE), which provided a two-year cancer research experience to
students from Burke High School. The students in SC CURE did
so well — 88% went on to enroll in STEM programs at four-year
colleges or universities — that Hollings decided to expand to also
22
“It's a great opportunity for anyone who is interested in learning
more about the medical field. Especially at the stage of high
school, where they’re still kind of figuring out their lives, this gives
them exposure to what public health is or what the research
world is,” said Ashvita Garg, Ph.D. She’s a Hollings Cancer
Center postdoctoral Abney fellow studying HPV-related
cancer prevention practices among people with HIV and sexual
minorities, and she served as a mentor to Coutino.
HOLLINGS HORIZONS Fall 2023
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