Native American Youths Enjoy Science - YES Oklahoma

PROJECT SUMMARY The “YES Oklahoma” program provides a pathway that sustains an enhanced representation of Oklahoma American Indian students in cancer research. Our program is supported by the Tribal President of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, the Kiowa Tribe Higher Education, and the Chairman of the Comanche Nation, as well as

superintendents representing our partnering schools. Our institutional support is substantial, including >$70,000 annually and over 20 faculty mentors. Native American (NA) professionals are underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly those in biomedical research, and near-absent in cancer research. This STEM discrepancy has

realized impacts on community health. There is a substantial NA health disparity in cancer occurrence and mortality rates of various cancers, and much of these disparities occur with cancer types where regular screening, early detection, and access to healthcare have a large impact. Compared to the general population,

where there has been considerable advancement over the last 20-years in lowering cancer-associated mortality, such reductions have not been observed for NA groups. This suggests that a more robust NA healthcare workforce and infrastructure, one with strong ties to their communities, could reduce these rates. In our aims,

we propose a research training strategy, where NA high school students interested in biomedical careers can engage in hands on scientific research and professionalization activities, with a strong emphasis in cancer research. YES Oklahoma Scholars will include a cohort of rising high school NA juniors and seniors engaged in

an 8-week summer course on professional development and cancer research (Aim 1); YES Oklahoma Teachers (Aim 2) will include a cohort of middle and high school teachers from partner schools who will participate in an 8-week summer training event that includes research and curriculum development. Teachers will recruit future

YES Oklahoma Scholars from their classroom populations. This classroom cohort are the YES Oklahoma Trainees, who engage is a Teacher’s YES Oklahoma curriculum that includes laboratory research experiences and local YES Oklahoma outreach activities. Together, the PIs, Scholars, Teachers, and Trainees, along with

community stakeholders and tribes, will form our YES Oklahoma Outreach Team, and they will participate in events focused on families, communities, and intertribal activities and cancer prevention education (Aim 3). The YES Oklahoma program will directly impact over 76 participants (72 NA students and 4 teachers) annually, and

the combined outreach events will indirectly impact thousands of underserved students, teachers, families and community members. The net result is that the program would have established a pathway of NA students entering the STEM program and ultimately into biomedical sciences.