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Project STRIDE

We expose and engage high school students in clinical research.

About the Programs

In response to the critical shortage of minorities in biomedical research and the health professions, the overarching goal of Project STRIDE is to increase the number of underrepresented minority and disadvantaged students in the pipeline who are committed to research careers in the health sciences. Increasing the nation’s cadre of minority clinicians and researchers is a crucial component to eliminating health disparities, especially given that minority researchers and physicians are more likely to work in minority communities than their non-minority counterparts. Project STRIDE aims to increase the diversity and quality of the research workforce specifically in regard to the ongoing nationwide effort to better understand the complex health-related needs of low-income, medically underserved populations and thereby, ultimately, to reduce disparities in health care accessibility, quality, and outcomes.


Project STRIDE will also provide an in-depth health science immersion experience to underrepresented high school students, though all program participants will be primarily from King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, Alliance Health Sciences Academy and other high schools in the Watts community of South Los Angeles.

Project STRIDE I

The Project STRIDE education and training experience will encompass exposure to critical methodologies and principles of biomedical and clinical research in disease areas identified by Healthy People 2020 as disproportionately prevalent among underserved minority and low income communities. This ten week clinical research program will require the student to work full-time with an assigned mentor on a research project of their interest. Students will write an abstract on the project, create a poster and give a presentation at a Research Day. Extra-curricular activities such as SAT preparation, writing skills, interviewing, applying to college, and other areas of interest to the students will be covered. Participants will receive a stipend for their involvement.

Project STRIDE II

This program is for students who have previously completed the high school Project STRIDE program. The undergraduate students will have the opportunity to expand their research knowledge and capabilities. They will be exposed to a many complex research techniques and produce a community relevant translational project. The project will aim to also produce a meaningful publication, manuscript or submission of abstracts to national conferences.

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