ERIKA A. MCCARDEN

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“The children are our future.”

The popular quote rings true as nine African American and Latin high school scientists spent their summer vacation conducting scientific research in the dental laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles’ School of Dentistry.

The slang they speak isn’t the regular BFF, BRB or LOL, but rather formulaic, scientific “lab talk” that will leave many lab outsiders scratching their heads and running to look up medical terms in a dictionary.

Many teens slept in this summer, attended camps or enjoyed family vacations, but these students, who represent Long Beach, Los Angeles and other cities, spent six weeks rising at 6 a.m. for a group breakfast before making the daily trek up and down hill to campus for a full day of work in the dental lab with fellow graduate research students and dental school faculty. 

“It was hard adjusting to waking at 5 or 6, getting ready by 8:30, then making the walk up and down the hill every day,” said Rigo Martínez, who entered the program through College GRAD and attends San Fernando High School. “During the first week, the days felt extra long and at first I didn’t know how I would manage. But, I learned the lab techniques. It was hard to understand, but I got through it and then after the first week it seemed like a breeze.”

Martinez was partnered to conduct research on “Oral cancer, and trying to control a tumor repressor gene.”

“We researched Cdk2ap1, which is our main gene, and the tumor suppressant gene. Our research was detecting oral cancer prematurely and being able to treat it before offset in the body,” Martinez said.

The school of dentistry started the yearlong pre-college science education outreach program in 2007 from a grant made possible by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The only school in the country to receive the five-year nearly $750,000 Biomedical Research Institutions Initiative grant, it works in partnership with nonprofit organizations College Bound of Greater Los Angeles and Project GRAD Los Angeles to identify high school junior and senior students who desire to work within the many fields of science.

“In this country we’re not promoting science,” said Dr. Marvin Marcus, chair of the dental school’s division of public health and community dentistry. “Most who study science here come from China and India. Howard Hughes Medical Institute developed the minority pipeline program for developing sciences to minority students. I thought it was a natural partnership between the two community organizations and the school of dentistry.”

Jessica Juarez, who also attends San Fernando High School, added, “The most enjoyable part was working with grad and under grad students, doing the experiments and cell staining. We don’t have those types of hands-on experiences at my school, and having the chance to interact with college students and get a view of college life was great. This meant a lot to me and now I’m a step closer to becoming a pediatrician.”

Juarez performed research for canker sores and finding a better way to cure them.

The program requires each applicant to provide a resume, write an essay, and conduct an interview with a panel. Upon acceptance, the students are given a taste of independence and college life by means of a six-week stay in the campus dorms with a roommate.

Monday through Friday they worked in the science lab conducting research from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., followed by reading and writing assignments of their findings. With select faculty and graduates on hand as mentors, the students were paired to perform research in several areas, including establishing whether DNA samples must be refrigerated, blending a better cocktail of antibodies, and early detection of oral cancer.

Each year the program is different, Marcus said.

“The students from last year learned molecular biological techniques about cells, how they work, bone formation, and cancer immunology — all what lab directors do research on,” he added.

On the weekends, the students were allowed home visits, field trips to 3rd StreetVenice Beach, and visits to a faculty member’s home. Promenade,

Chelcee Baker, of Rialto, said she didn’t know what to expect at the beginning of the program, but now Baker plans to work in the field of research.

“We started in the lab on a Monday, and before that a mentor asked me to read tons of manuscripts to become familiar with what we would be doing and the concepts. I took step-by-step notes on the procedure, and within a week I was able to do it myself,” she said. “I would be tired, but I always came prepared and ready to work. This program has helped me tremendously with deciding where I want to go in my career.”

At the conclusion of the six weeks, the students presented their research findings to faculty, graduate students, family and friends. They will continue to meet once a month and conduct further research of their areas of concentration.

As this year’s program prepares to wrap up, the first-year students who studied and researched topics such as salivary diagnostics and cellular aging and cancer presented their research this week at the American Academy for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division’s annual meeting in San Francisco, where they also were awarded. Five of the students from last year’s group will attend UCLA this fall, including Michaela Scott.

“My lab research concentrated on bisphosphonates, osteoporosis and osteoporotic patients,” said the first-year program participant.

“In the beginning it was a little frustrating because our group was the first in lab and the last to leave because the procedures took so long,” Scott added. “But I look back now, and all of the frustration was worth it. I learned a lot. What … this program did for me was introduce something to me that will definitely be a part of my future. I have so much more respect for researchers and might consider it as a career option.”