School2Lab — From Classroom Curiosity to Research

The School2Lab program is an NCI‑sponsored, research‑intensive summer fellowship hosted at Howard University, with leadership and major participation from the Johns Hopkins University, Sibley Memorial Hospital. It is part of Howard’s strategic initiative to expand STEMM pathways, cancer research training, and provide research opportunities for high school students across the Washington, D.C.–Maryland–Virginia region.

School2Lab seeks to cultivate high-achieving high school students from low‑income families (defined as <200% of the federal poverty level) and from educationally under resourced (most commonly first-generation college or attends, or would have attended based on their home address, a high school where the majority are also low-income) backgrounds, by providing early exposure to physical and biomedical research.

Program Leadership

• Prof. Rao Khan (https://profiles.howard.edu/rao-khan) from Howard’s Medical Physics in collaboration with Prof. Heng Li (https://profiles.hopkinsmedicine.org/provider/heng-li/2728025) of Johns Hopkins University as part of NIH/NCI/U54 supported collaboration called Howard Hopkins Comprehensive Partnership for Advancement of Cancer Health (H-H CPACH) established the program in 2024.
• Through a unique partnership among Howard University, Sibley Memorial Hospital, and Johns Hopkins University, students receive interdisciplinary training that strengthens their foundations in physical and biological sciences and prepares them for advanced STEMM research.
• The program was developed in collaboration and support from Prof. Douglas Robinson, Johns Hopkins University SARE (https://sare.cellbio.jhmi.edu/) program in Baltimore 

Purpose & Goals

• Provide hands‑on laboratory experience for high‑achieving DMV‑area high school students.
• Introduce students to cancer research, medical physics, and STEM career pathways.
• Strengthen scientific skills, curiosity, and preparedness for college STEM majors.
• Broaden and deepen students’ knowledge in bioethics, computational, physical, biological, mathematical, and biomedical sciences.
• Engage students in real institutional research by directly working with faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers as mentors.

Program Structure 

• Duration: 6‑week summer program from late June to early August.
• Format:
  • ~40 % hands‑on research, student paired with faculty and graduate student mentors.
  • ~60 % academic enrichment or remediation, tailored to each scholar.
• Activities include:
  • Laboratory skills techniques
  • Cancer and clinical research skills
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Scientific communication training
  • Final poster session presentation

Timeline

More information, contact: medphys@howard.edu or visit https://sites.google.com/view/school2lab/home?authuser=0 

Program Director, contact – Ms. Michelle Wills: michelle.wills@howard.edu