Wayne State Discovery to Cure High School Internship Program
The Discovery to Cure High School Internship Program was established by Dr. Gil Mor at Yale University in 2003 with the goal of providing high-quality life science research experience to qualified high school students and expose them to the excitement of biomedical research careers. In 2019, with Dr. Mor's appointment as Director of the C.S. Mott Cancer Center for Human Growth and Development at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Wayne State University, the Discovery to Cure Program was also initiated in Detroit, MI. The first set of interns were hosted at the Mott Center in the Summer of 2021.
The program continues to run at Yale, for more information about the Yale University Discovery to Cure Program click here.
Program History
During its first year, the program accepted three high school students from Cheshire High School in Cheshire, CT and all three students performed their research in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University School of Medicine. The program quickly grew and expanded and by 2016, 44 students were accepted and assigned to various other departments at Yale University School of Medicine including the Departments of Internal Medicine, Immunobiology, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Engineering to name a few. Students came from all over CT and eventually from other states such as NY and CA and in addition from other countries such as nearby Canada to as far as Israel, Germany, and Hong Kong. The program was recognized by the National Institutes of Health in 2012 and was awarded an R25 Education Project Grant by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) with Dr. Mor as Principal Investigator.
Alumni of the program are co-authors in peer-reviewed scientific publications and have competed and won on the Junior Science and Humanities Symposia Program, Pfizer Life Science Award, Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition, and International Science and Engineering Fair. Alumni have received early-action acceptance from Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University. A major percentage of alumni have pursued a career in Medicine and Life Sciences.