KATHERINE HEATH
UNITED STATES, 17
Project: FocuSStem NextGen
Basic Human Needs: Education, Health
As a student researcher at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Michigan, Katherine (Katie) met Madison, a high school student visiting her mom during cancer treatment. Madison seemed overwhelmed and scared, so Katie showed her around the research lab. Madison became extremely engaged and inquisitive. As a student in Detroit’s inner city schools, Madison had never been exposed to advanced science or medicine, in the classroom or in the real world. Katie realized many students weren’t aware of what a medical career entailed or the diversity of opportunities in healthcare. In 2018, she founded FocuSStem NextGen to provide students from under-resourced high schools with in-person, immersive experiences at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, the largest cancer research network in Michigan. When several students expressed interest in having more in-depth experiences, Katie created the Summer Intensive Program. The two-week program teaches students in real life settings about careers in science, technology and health care. FocuSStem NextGen has engaged 260 students from six Southeastern Michigan high schools in their programs and are involving six additional schools in 2020. In 2019, Katie presented to the MiSTEM Advisory Council, Michigan’s leaders who determine the STEM education agenda, to advocate for the addition of youth representatives on their Council in 2020. Katie is working to offer additional trips to more students, and provide the Summer Intensive Program participants with research experience in a professional laboratory. One day, she hopes to see a FocuSStem NextGen program at every large medical center in the United States.