Bradley University is one of only nine institutions nationwide to be awarded a grant from The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to offer clinical research experiences for high school students.

The $194,400 grant is part of more than $1.5 million the Foundation provided to give high school students from underrepresented groups the opportunity to participate in mentored, clinical research activities. Each institution will select up to 10 students per year to participate in its program.

Bradley’s Center for STEM Education has conducted the 10-week Building Excellent Scientists for Tomorrow (BEST) research internship program each summer since 2005. The BEST program is designed to increase the number of economically disadvantaged, underrepresented students pursuing careers in science and engineering. It will be expanded as a result of the 3-year grant from the Foundation to target students interested in health and medical sciences. Working with the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Bradley’s Center for Collaborative Brain Research, and Bradley faculty in a number of departments, clinical research internships and training, particularly in the neurosciences, will be created for underrepresented high school students.

Bradley, the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, Stanford University, Temple University, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Wisconsin Foundation were selected to receive the grants from 63 proposals from 27 states.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child abuse.