Our Institution offers outreach and research programs at several educational levels. The following provides a summary of our pipeline research programs for high school and undergraduate students.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
We currently have three high school research programs with varying degrees of time commitment for the students. Together these programs offer research opportunities to approximately 30 students per year from local high schools.
- Biostart Program: The Biostart Program was initially funded by a SEPA grant to Dr. Kenneth McMartin in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, & Neuroscience, and is now funded locally by the Biomedical Research Foundation. One of the goals of the program is to enhance the education of a community in Shreveport. To meet this goal, students are recruited from the Biotechnology Program at Southwood High School, with 8-10 students participating each year. In addition to research time each morning during the fall semester, the students attend a lecture series on laboratory skills and responsible conduct in research. They also participate in a hands-on science day for 160 8th grade students from our area to help promote STEM education. The program ends with a poster presentation.
LEARN MORE about BIOSTART - Science & Medicine Academic Research Training Program (SMART): The SMART program provides academically advanced high school seniors who are interested in careers related to medicine, scientific research, and biomedical engineering opportunities to engage in intensive research with medical clinicians, researchers, and academic staff. Funded by the BRF since its inception in 1997, 217 students have been trained in this program. The students enter into the lab full-time over the summer before senior year (a stipend is provided), and then come to the lab for at least 10 hours per week for the entire senior year (they receive high school science credit). Based on tracking performed in 2012, all of the students attended undergraduate university, with 79% obtaining degrees with science majors. 80% of those employed worked in science/health related fields.
LEARN MORE about SMART
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
- American Heart Association Supporting Undergraduate Research Experiences (AHA SURE)
The American Heart Association (AHA) SURE is a unique summer research program that supports individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) and want to help address inequities in health care delivery and outcomes related to the mission of the AHA. The program at LSUHS takes place over 8 weeks during the summer and provides a valuable mentored research experience in cardiovascular disease to undergraduate students. Additional benefits include a $6,000 stipend, travel expenses and a stipend for housing, the opportunity to attend AHA Scientific Sessions with all expenses paid, and special programming events to network with other students and AHA scientific leaders. LEARN MORE about AHA SURE - Cardiovascular Unique Research Initiative fOr Undergraduate Students (CURIOUS)
The Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Diseases and Sciences CURIOUS program is an 8-week summer research program in cardiovascular disease for undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing research as part of their scientific or clinical career goals. Our principle investigators, who will serve as mentors, lead research programs in several focus areas including: atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, peripheral artery disease, microvascular dysfunction in response to cardiovascular disease risk factors, stroke and the vascular/heart-brain axis. LEARN MORE about CURIOUS. - Pathogen-Host Interactions and Immunology Research and Education (PHIIRE) Fellowship
Through this competitive summer research program hosted by the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Center for Applied Immunology and Pathological Processes, Fellows will do hands-on biomedical research under the mentorship of nationally recognized in infectious disease and immunology. Fellows will work with their mentors to create a scientific question to serve as the focus of their project. They will then use the 8-week period during the summer to find experimental answers to their question. At the end of the program, Fellows will be invited to participate in a poster presentation to share their research findings. In addition to laboratory research, Fellows will participate along with LSU Health Shreveport graduate students in seminars, journal clubs, and other scientific experiences to deepen their understanding of microbiology and immunology. Stipends ($12/hour) will be provided to all Fellows. LEARN MORE about PHIIRE
- Research Experiences to Advance Careers in Healthcare (REACH)
The career readiness and experiential learning opportunity supports qualified applicants eager to apply to medical school, another health professions program or a biomedical science graduate program. With a cohort size of 25 and growth opportunities, this eight-week, non-course-based learning experience provides prospective students with invaluable exposure to research. LEARN MORE about REACH. - Summer Undergraduate Pharmacology Experience in Research (SUPER)
The SUPER program is geared specifically to students interested in pharmacology research and is funded by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Summer undergraduate research fellowship, the LSU Health Sciences Foundation and the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience. This program is a highly competitive with an average of 54 applicants per year over the last two years, and an average of five participants per year. Nearly half (48%) of the 25 students trained through this program between 2013-2017 were minorities, suggesting there is strong interest from minority students in such focused research programs. Furthermore, outcomes for the SUPER program are positive, with 60% of the students pursuing an academic career within the realm of science and medicine, suggesting experience in focused training programs are effective at retaining students in the biomedical field. LEARN MORE about SUPER. - Summer Undergraduate Mentorship in Metabolism, Innovation and Transcriptomics (SUMMIT)
SUMMIT is an 8-week intensive program in the EPSCoR CREST Center for Post-Transcriptional Regulation (CPTR) for undergraduate students seeking to pursue a research career. Students will undertake hypothesis-driven projects in state-of-the-art labs, mentored by faculty whose expertise spans post-transcriptional regulation, metabolic signaling, and advanced phenotyping. Throughout the summer, students will partake in enrichments designed to enhance their technical capabilities, professional confidence, and ethical approach to research. LEARN MORE about SUMMIT.
Student Research Programs
Educational Enrichment & Hands-On Training