Bridgette L. Jones, MD, MSCR
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine; Education Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Kansas School of Medicine
Full BiographyChildren’s Mercy Kansas City’s STAR 2.0 Program received a one-year, $5,000 grant from the BlueScope Foundation as well as a one-year, $25,000 grant from the Abe and Anna Bograd Memorial Trust to support further expansion of the program as well as to support student needs while participating during this 2023 program year.
Launched in 2021, the Summer Training in Academic Research (STAR) 2.0 Program is led by Bridgette Jones, MD, MSCR, and Vickie Yarbrough, MA, BA. It provides six weeks of hands-on, high quality research experience during the summer academic break for high school students and educators. Its goal is to increase the diversity of clinicians and scientists finding treatments and cures for tomorrow by fostering interest through scientist-led student mentorships.
During each summer session, participants get the chance to do several things, including work with Children’s Mercy faculty on an original research project, develop a research publication for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, and learn about clinical and translational research methodology, writing, statistics, and medical ethics. Student participants also learn about various medical and scientific pathways and careers, tour Children’s Mercy departments, network and learn with Children’s Mercy educators and students from across the country and learn about science/medicine and relevant careers to become ambassadors for the field within the school environment.
Besides offering an inside perspective of the world of science and medicine, the program also provides students and teachers a stipend to attend which allows full participation for those planning to work over summer break.
The STAR 2.0 Program was partly modeled from, and in collaboration with, the Duke Clinical Research Institute. You can learn more about it at childrensmercy.org/STAR-program.
Besides these two grants, the STAR 2.0 Program previously received generous support from Janssen Research & Development, LLC.