Science from the soul: original research by middle and high school students addresses community health needs and increases representation in science

We are all born scientists, entering the world with the innate ability to question, observe, collect data, and reach conclusions. Curiosity driven, we explore our world—right up until we enter school. Rapidly, our love for discovery is buried under heavy textbooks, tedious lectures, and standardized testing, an approach that is unambiguously biased against systemically minoritized students (Giordano 2005; Au 2007, 2008; Knoester and Au 2017). By the 8th grade, most have abandoned science as a career (Blackhurst and Auger 2008; Gibbons and Borders 2010; Jackson et al. 2011; Blotnicky et al. 2018; Mau and Li 2018; Berwick 2019; Kang et al. 2019; Dönmez and Idin 2020). This travesty in the educational approach is arguably the biggest hurdle to maintaining a robust, innovative workforce of scientists, even as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs are the most rapidly growing area worldwide (Okrent and Burke 2021; Farrell and Hussain 2022), including a predicted 15% rise in healthcare professions. At the same time, too few candidates are rising through the ranks to fill all the open positions, again with a particularly negative impact on underrepresented populations (Leu 2017; Riegle-Crumb et al. 2019; Denice 2021). Erasing interest in the problem-solving and research skills that form the core of science is an underlying reason for major inequities in health, wealth, and employment representation (LaVeist and Pierre 2014; Nelson 2014; Canner et al. 2017).

How can we reignite the instinctive passion for science buried inside young students given the strict barriers imposed by our educational systems? How can we promote the inner scientist in kids from communities that experience obstructionist, systemically imposed hurdles? Ten years ago, we had a dream of building “The Institute,” with a vision of a place and a concept that welcomes anyone with an idea, regardless of their algebra or test-taking skills, independent of their ability to pay, and celebrating the reasons in their soul that allow their ideas to bubble up and drive them to make community impact. As women who have experienced the challenges of discrimination, dismissal, and discouragement, we dreamed of a new culture for scientific research—one built on friendship, trust, mutual support, and above all, cultural respect and honor. We developed complementary research programs: one focused on the intersection of signal transduction and diet and the other on identifying and addressing the social issues and access challenges that limit inclusion of teachers and students in the research process. Over the course of 6 years, we created modular, adaptable curricula that fully train research-naïve participants in the techniques, the protocols, and—most importantly—the thinking of biomedical research, making them fully equipped to enter labs upon completion of their training and succeed in STEM.

At its core, our approach embraces 2 powerful elements: research and love. Every aspect of the program celebrates students’ drive to save the lives of people they love: a grandmother, a cousin, a parent—even themselves. Each student enters the program with the intent of finding a cure for cancer, diabetes, addiction, long COVID, etc., with self-designed research projects aimed at finding some overlooked or unforeseen nutrient that reduces the burden of disease. With the program set up as a chemical-genetic screen in Drosophila, the possibilities for exploration are nearly infinite. Students investigate the cultural dietary practices of their families and communities to define impacts of home-based interventions on the signaling pathways that drive disease in their loved ones (Fig. 1, a–c). Every project is student-created and original, with the cumulative goals of creating a comprehensive map of the effects of nutrients on disease signaling and using that information to develop personalized diets to enhance the efficacy of disease treatments. In parallel, students gain science education from a research perspective that is deeply personal. Standards for math, biology, chemistry, environmental science, and health are intrinsic to the curriculum—meeting and exceeding expectations set out for high school science courses. Even in schools where 2/3 of the students scored “below basic” in math and science on standardized testing (2022), our participants excelled in research. Philadelphia is a city with major deficits in preparing students for the STEM workforce, but classrooms throughout the city embraced the goals of finding cures for the health challenges that plague their communities and dove in the the program to collaborate, problem solve, hypothesize, and investigate. Whereas fewer than 20% of students “want(ed) to take more science classes,” 82% “want to do more research,” which highlights the vast divide between the perceptions and realities of science education when compared to real, research-based science. Seventy-six percent of participants in our most advanced programs have continued to paid research positions in college, with 17.8% of graduates currently pursuing PhDs, 16% in medical school, 18% in engineering, 22% with jobs in labs in academia or industry, and 6% in STEM careers including nursing, business, outreach, and entrepreneurship (unpublished data). All maintain their original purpose: to positively impact the vulnerable in communities they love (Fig. 1d).

Fig. 1.

a) Middle school with over 90% Hispanic/Latinx students participating in identifying nutritional supplements that impact diabetes. b) Undergraduate from a Hispanic/Latinx serving college presenting posters about diet and diabetes during a community event. c) Community events create opportunities for neighbors to interact with the researchers. d) Student shares that his community is the driver for his research. e) Philadelphia high school students get a precollege experience in cancer biology.

The impacts of the program on teachers are just as significant as those on the students. Science teachers worked side by side with most of us in college, just as dedicated to the results of labs and learning science principles and practices as any premedical or pre-PhD student. Most chose teaching because of their talent for engagement and commitment to bringing their knowledge and excitement to tens of thousands of students over the course of a long career. Heavy standardized testing requirements and restricted access to experimental tools and supplies leaves teachers unable to share the 360° science experience that led them to a STEM career (Aydeniz and Southerland 2012), causing that powerful energy to dwindle over time (Hughes 2006; Nehmeh and Kelly 2018; Estrada 2022). Our programming is low cost and accessible; it reverts that testing malaise by placing teachers as principal investigators of research projects focused on community health and environmental challenges, rekindling their passion for science through bona fide research. Teachers participate in learning modules and can create customized programming to meet the research goals of their students, switching between diseases, diet, environmental factors, and even specific signal transduction pathways that influence community health to address community threats (Fig. 2, a–c). Opportunities to contribute to both data collection and curriculum development have led to paid instruction and job opportunities, authorships on publications for both teacher and student participants, access to grant funding for converting classrooms into fully equipped research labs, and difficult conversations around the social and genetic drivers of health disparities. The excitement of navigating new avenues of science education discovery often prompts our teacher-partners to continue the research opportunities outside of the classroom with engaged students form biomedical research clubs. These become a haven for answers and collaboration where students and teachers can go beyond the curriculum and dive into health issues that are not covered in class. The concept of meeting students where they are, including sharing what they already know about diabetes, cancer, or other diseases and what foods are “healthy” vs “not healthy,” provides an inroad to the research. Taking the next step, teachers have used back-to-school night as a community platform to get families involved with their children’s research, sharing how their work will be used to make the school community healthier (Fig. 2e). True to their choice of teaching as a career, nothing makes teachers—particularly in resource-challenged schools—eel the research win as much as their students in the hallway during classes bragging to their peers, “I’m a scientist, and you know you wish you could be too” (Fig. 2d).

Fig. 2.

Philadelphia middle and high school students present class-designed variations of a project framework. a) An Environmental Science class studied effect of garden plants. b) A Life Sciences class studied effects of dietary supplements. c) An anatomy and physiology studied effects of junk food. d) Students from 12 middle and high schools in Philadelphia presented their scientific research at a symposium held at the world-famous Franklin Institute. e) One of our teacher-partners enjoying lunch with his student team following their community research presentation on the differences between cancer drivers in African American patients vs the White majority.

In 2019, we expanded the breadth of research questions and participation our programs can offer through creation of the nonprofit eCLOSE Institute. Development of a hybrid approach—pairing virtual learning with laboratory experimentation facilitated by personal research stations—removed limitations to access and enabled us to include thousands of students annually in 28 US states. Our mission is to “empower the Community Lens on Science through Education.” Importantly, eCLOSE is also the moment an insect emerges as an adult; this emphasizes our commitment to fully prepare children for STEM success. Most recently, positive impacts on learning and retention in science have been further enhanced by involvement of university faculty who use eCLOSE programming in Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) (Waddell et al. 2021) or as an early research experience to prepare incoming freshman for the rigors of the biology major. The students themselves create a “ripples in the pond” effect by engaging families and neighbors in their research and learning. We see a shift in scientific culture emerging already from equipping young students with the ability to develop research questions before starting college. They search out and join labs with (1) research interests that resonate with their scientific goals and (2) PIs willing to embrace creation of student-designed projects that have high community impact. Students continue to collaborate with each other, reaching out to fellow program grads for support in areas ranging from molecular cell biology to public health, biophysics and drug delivery to bioinformatics and tech, thus bringing a vast network of diverse scientific expertise and teaching skills into each lab they join. Finally, they maintain and grow community connections, leveraging the wisdom and life experience of those experiencing health challenges and disparities to tailor their research for enhanced impact. A major driver of attrition from science is the loss of cultural identity, which is associated with the demands for assimilation and acquisition of new language and behavior required by the prevailing demographic majority. Instead, our talented students bridge their communities to the scientific endeavor, celebrating culture as a key to uncovering the next breakthrough in reducing health disparities. Together, we share the vision of a scientific world where each participant brings their unique talents and skills, the WHY that drives them to explore, and a deep mutual trust that turns the cogs of the research engine. Individually, we embrace that life we are trying to save, with the effects of each advance a new ripple in the pond of discovery.