Base Pair: 28 Years of Sustained High School Biomedical Research Mentorship Driving Health Sciences Career Progression

Abstract

Base Pair is an ongoing (1992-present) collaboration between University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) faculty mentors and Mississippi high school students and teachers. UMMC faculty and Base Pair teachers designed a course which has allowed curriculum innovations by teachers. The student component engages 15 trainees annually in laboratory experiences under direct faculty mentorship while receiving high school graduation credit. Students have a 100% high school graduation rate (vs. ~88% nationally) and 99% college entrance. These students have co-authored/pre-sented over 450 times in UMMC, state or national venues. Of 220 graduates, roughly 63% are in/have completed post-bac-calaureate training. Of these, at least 49 have gained a terminal degree in science or law, while another 35 students have attained a Master's degree. Over 100 teachers have been mentored in grant-writing exercises and curriculum development, resulting in over 159 applications for external funding of inquiry-based classroom activities of which 78% were funded. Teachers have also implemented several innovative STEM curricula, reaching thousands more students. These include a student team-based competition that fuses citizen science and molecular biology to assess insect infection with Wolbachia bacteria. Base Pair bolsters student engagement, promotes STEM/health career advancement for students, and enhances teacher job satisfaction.