MediSTAR program aims to expose motivated and talented high school students to the current medicine engineering and drug innovation through a detailed investigation of the clinical trial landscape for a challenging disease. Clinical trials form a critical part of the drug development process that precedes FDA approval and commercial availability of drugs in the market. Students will learn an overview of these clinical trial processes through daily virtual sessions with Harvard faculty and researchers. Students will be taught mining and systematic compilation of data from the clinicalTrials.gov website to establish a comprehensive picture of the clinical landscape of a selected disease. In addition to the scientific knowledge, MediSTAR will equip students with vital soft skills in scientific presentation and data visualization as they work towards gaining an in-depth understanding of translational science.

Duration: July 15 – July 26 (2 weeks)

Location: Virtual

Application: Apply here before June 25th. (Restricted to students in the US).

Program Overview:

Week 1: In the first week of the program, students will learn about the what, the why, the when, and how of clinical trials. Contextualizing the importance of clinical trials, the program will begin with an introductory lecture on the drug development process leading up to clinical trials. Students will then pursue a self-directed exploration of literature on the clinical trial process. The week will culminate with a presentation demonstrating a good understanding of the various clinical trial stages and the key essence of each stage. The presentation should end with outlining a disease of interest that they would like to explore further in the second week of the program.

Week 2: During the second week, students will dive deeper into the clinical landscape focusing on their chosen disease. They will learn how to navigate the clinicalTrials.gov database to find relevant clinical trials and extract critical information from them. At the end of the week, students will make presentations outlining their findings about the clinical landscape of their disease of interest and suggesting future engineering and drug development innovations that can accelerate the treatment of the disease.