Elevating Mentoring Possibilities for Overcoming Withstanding Educational Roadblocks in Sickle Cell Disease (EMPOWER SCD): STEMM mentoring for youth with sickle cell disease

Project Summary/Abstract One fifth of the school-age population in the US have a chronic medical illness or disabling condition that puts them as an educational disadvantage.1 This includes children with sickle cell disease (SCD), a chronic, periodically disabling medical condition that principally affects people of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

(India) descent. For combination of medical, physical, and social reasons, adolescents, and teens with SCD are at particular risk for missing school, falling behind in their education, and failing to enjoy opportunities to develop an interest in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) subjects. Elevating

Mentoring Possibilities for Overcoming and Withstanding Educational Roadblocks in Sickle Cell Disease (EMPOWER SCD) proposes to use children’s hospitals and their affiliated clinics as informal science education centers wherein near-peer mentors (undergraduate engineering and health professional students from local

universities) will help middle and high school students with SCD foster an interest in STEMM. (Aim 1) EMPOWER SCD near-peers will facilitate biomedical engineering demonstrations, innovative hands- on activities, presentations by senior role models who are STEMM professionals, and other activities to promote

STEMM-identity formation. Target project outcomes for EMPOWER SCD participants include improved academic performance, the formation of a STEMM identity, and the development of aspirations for pursuing post-secondary education in STEMM fields. The benefits of near-peer mentorship have been well established in other educational settings. For example,

medical schools have found that near-peer teaching/mentoring among medical students2,3 can result in positive social, cognitive congruence, and academic outcomes4 and that college students who have been paired middle school (11 to 14-year-olds) and high school students (14 to 18-year-olds) leads to personal and professional

growth among mentors and increased interest and engagement in STEM among mentees5. (Aim 2) We will create a train-the-trainer program designed to enhance the skills of EMPOWER SCD near peers in addressing the unique challenges faced by adolescent and teenage students with sickle cell disease, in facilitating the development of STEMM identity among mentees, and in providing academic and personal

guidance. We will also seek to match demographic characteristics such as race and gender among mentors and mentees in order to promote bonds of trust that can lead to deeper and earlier connections6. In sum, EMPOWER SCD will seek to improve STEMM opportunities for children with sickle cell disease by placing them in

partnerships with near-peer mentors. The overall goal of EMPOWER SCD is to inspire and help enable people with sickle cell disease in advancing academically toward becoming researchers, physicians, and engineers capable of diversifying the workforce and making a positive impact on society. 1