34 Years of Excellence
USC’s Science, Technology and Research (STAR) Program, founded by Roberta Diaz Brinton in 1989, has long opened pathways for high school students—particularly underrepresented minorities—to pursue careers in life sciences, biomedical engineering and biotechnology. Now, Terry David Church, assistant professor of regulatory and quality sciences at USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Amanda Burkhardt, assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at USC Mann, have joined to blend and expand the program’s longstanding partnership with Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School for even greater impact on young scientists’ futures.
STAR Student Outcomes
STAR student research contributes to scientific publications and research grant proposals. 100% of USC STAR Students attend college, and on average 92% (vs 29% of their peers) attend top-tier colleges and research institutions including: USC, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Columbia, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell, Brown, the Claremont Schools, and UC’s at Berkeley, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Davis and Irvine. 97% of STAR students receive academic scholarships to attend university and while in college 88% continue to conduct scientific research with declared majors in science and engineering. STAR students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds attend research institutions and major in science and engineering at rates commensurate with students from represented backgrounds.
Collectively, the data indicate that the STAR Program is a critical conduit that begins with a high rate of participation among students who have been historically underrepresented in the scientific research pipeline, and keeps them in the pipeline—at the nation’s top research universities. The USC STAR program, its impactful outcomes and educational values are extensively discussed in a commentary by Brinton, published in the Journal of Neuroscience in 2007.