Chau Tran

For 17-year-old Chau Tran, science is more than just a required class in her high school curriculum. This summer, the Boston Latin junior traded her high school lab for an HSPH lab, being one of five students to be chosen for a new program that gives young adults the opportunity to participate in cancer research.

The CURE (Continuing Umbrella of Research Experience) program introduces high school and college students from underrepresented minority groups to cancer research in real settings. CURE is a program of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), a comprehensive cancer center designated by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. HSPH is a member of the DF/HCC.

Tran is working in the laboratory of Zhi-Min Yuan, assistant professor of radiobiology in the Department of Cancer Cell Biology at HSPH. Tran will help conduct research in the lab for two years: full-time this summer and next summer and part-time after school when her classes resume.

Researchers in the Yuan lab are studying p53, an anti-cancer protein that suppresses tumor growth. They are making mutants of the protein, trying to better understand how p53 works.

Tran, who had never stepped into a full-time professional lab before this summer, is learning step by step how to properly conduct different experiments, as well as how to safely use pieces of lab equipment. Hidehiko Kawai, a post-doctoral fellow in the lab and Tran’s appointed mentor, monitors every step.

"Everybody’s been really nice," said Tran. "They know I’m still a student. I’m learning things a little bit at a time. My first two weeks here, I was yapping ‘What’s this?’ ‘What’s this?’ Dr. Kawai has been very patient with me."

Tran has been given a lot of journal articles about p53 to read. Yuan gives her a paper every week to review, and then they discuss its contents on Fridays.

In addition, Tran and the other CURE students meet with the program’s organizers and with guest lecturers from different cancer-related scientific backgrounds each week.

"They are building our knowledge about different fields," said Tran.

On August 16, she and her fellow students presented their research projects to their parents, advisors, and DF/HCC staff.

Tran said that she will probably pursue a PhD. She is working on applications to Harvard, Tufts University, Boston University, Boston College, and the University of Massachusetts.

For more information about the CURE program, contact Karen Burns White at 617-632-3244 or karen_burnswhite@dfci.harvard.edu.