Behavioral Medicine & Clinical Psychology: Understanding the Connection Between Health and Wellbeing
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM CST (May 15, 2023 – August 13, 2023)- (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Pietra Bruni | View Instructor Bio

Physical and emotional health are not two separate systems, as many people previously believed, but they are closely intertwined. This is known as the Mind-Body connection, a relationship so important that it’s responsible for impacting nearly all of our bodily experiences! Our memory, energy levels, behavior, mood, sleep, and even our appetite are controlled by this dynamic and ever-evolving relationship.

Led by a senior Vanderbilt clinical psychology PhD student, this mentorship will address the link between clinical health psychology and behavioral medicine, focusing on the exciting and complex work that happens at the intersection of mind and medicine. While clinical psychologists are primarily focused on causes, treatments, and prevention of different types of disorders, those with a clinical health specialty have a particular expertise working in the medical field to promote health and wellbeing. Functioning as a member of an interdisciplinary treatment team, this subspecialty is known as Behavioral Medicine—a perspective that acknowledges the interplay of biological, psychological, medical, and social factors. Since behavioral medicine encompasses a deeply interdisciplinary approach which pulls from various disciplines (such as biology, immunology, neurology, and psychophysiology), we will begin our mentorship by learning about the nervous system and related physiological structures. From there, students will expand their knowledge of the biopsychosocial model, synthesizing relevant literature from the field and learning more about cutting-edge health research. Specific topics that will be explored include the impact of stress on the body, the gut-brain connection, how neuroplasticity can re-wire our brain, the role of behavioral genetics, and more. This advanced content deep-dive will culminate in students identifying their own research question (to be answered through data collection or advanced literature review) and resulting in an independent research project that they design and execute themselves.

Throughout this mentorship students can expect advanced lectures, labs, extensive study, an introduction to clinical health resources used in the medical field, and guest lectures from fellow clinicians and research scientists. For high school students with a dual interest in psychology and medicine, this mentorship is for you! Together we will bridge the gap between brain/ body relationships and explore the diverse fields of clinical psychology and behavioral medicine.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Science Communication and Policy – How to Break Through the Noise (May 15, 2023 – August 13, 2023)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 6:00PM to 8:00PM CST – (Status: no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Loren Lapointe, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

You have one minute to speak to a congressman about a science-related issue dear to your heart, what do you do to make your point loud and clear, and how do you support it with evidence? How does current science communication impact our society’s beliefs, values, and understandings? And, how does this impact policy? How do you take scientific information and communicate it to a broad audience with different levels of scientific understanding?

In this mentorship, we will address these questions and more as we investigate the topic of science communication. Why is science communication important to all science enthusiasts? Pursuing a career in science does not follow one path anymore. Many science-based careers start the same way in a traditional undergraduate curriculum with lecture and lab coursework, followed by some type of post-baccalaureate study in the form of a master’s degree, MD, or a PhD. Regardless of the path someone takes in the sciences, to be successful in the field you have to know how to synthesize scientific material and communicate it to a variety of audiences. Science communication influences many aspects of society and policy, so becoming an effective communicator of science-knowledge is important for all individuals interested in science-based careers. In this mentorship, we will learn how to take science content and communicate it in effective and efficient ways. Get ready to apply your critical thinking skills and communication abilities as we investigate what it truly looks like to be an effective interpreter and communicator of all things science!

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Neuroscience and Society
Meeting Time: Saturdays, 3:00PM to 5:00PM CT and Mondays, 7:00PM to 9:00PM CT – (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructors: Thao Le, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary study of the structure and function of the nervous system. Remarkable progress in the understanding of the nervous system and the human brain affects many aspects of our lives, from healthcare and education to law and economics. This mentorship introduces students to the field neuroscience and its relevance to society by examining how research in neuroscience reflects and shapes societal values and discourse. Students will learn about the building blocks of the brain as well as how they work together to affect bodily function, emotions, cognition, memory, and behavior. Recent advances in neuroscience along with their applications and potential societal implications will be studied and discussed.

Throughout the mentorship, students will have the opportunity to critically evaluate primary literature, learn from case studies, and conduct their final projects on neuroscience-based topic of interest. Examples of potential topics include adolescent brain development and juvenile justice, advances in understanding and treating mental illness, neurobiology of addiction, use of neuroimaging and artificial intelligence in forensics or marketing, cognitive enhancement, educational neuroscience, etc. Led by a current Vanderbilt MD-PhD student interested in psychiatry, this mentorship will also give students a glimpse into the life of a physician-scientist in training and the many career paths in medicine and biomedical research.

Cancer Drug Discovery: Exploring the Intersections of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology (June 12, 2023 – September 12, 2023)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM CST – (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Kensey Bergdorf-Smith, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Where do new cancer therapies come from? Will there ever be a cure for cancer? How do we know how much or what kind of chemotherapy to give someone? In this mentorship experience, we will address the cancer biology and pharmacologic principles behind the answers to these questions and more. Our exploration of these questions will begin with an introduction to signal transduction and the biology behind cancer. After we understand the biology and physiology of cancer as a disease, we will apply this knowledge to analyze how particular drugs work in the fight against cancer. Once we have a firm understanding of cancer pharmacology, we will then research how different model systems and methods are used to identify and test the effectiveness of potential new drug candidates before they make it into clinical trials.The material covered in the mentorship will be used to lay the foundation for your final project – an opportunity to apply your new biological and pharmacological understanding to either (1) propose a new process to use in the field to identify ineffective or harmful drugs before they go to clinical trials, or (2) to outline a new potential therapy.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

From Lab to Life: How Psychology Research Connects to our Development as People (June 12, 2023 – September 12, 2023)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM CST – (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Zachary Stuckelman, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Developmental psychology researchers investigate all things related to human behavior from the simple motor reactions we have as infants to how we learn second languages as both children and adults to the impact of emotions on our performance in school or work. This mentorship is focused on introducing you to the field of social science research, specifically through the lens of developmental psychology and child development including how psychologists study human development and what the field of developmental psychology has helped us learn about ourselves and others. We will start the mentorship by introducing a variety of theories concerning how we develop our psychology (i.e., our emotions, our personalities, our preferences, etc.). We will then map various research methods involved in studying development and how they apply beyond the research lab context to our lives. We also will evaluate various statistical methods to understand how we transfer raw data in the social sciences to actual analyzable results. After establishing a foundation in developmental psychology research and methods, you will develop your own research study based on questions asked throughout the class. Through your own data collection and analysis, you will learn how psychology research can be used to explain changes throughout life and the role context plays in development. We will learn how discoveries in this field can impact our everyday life. If you are interested in child development, cognitive development, child studies, development psychology, and the practical implications of research on education, this mentorship is for you.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Pancreas Biology: Understanding the Physiological Mechanisms of Diabetes Progression (June 12, 2023 – September 12, 2023)
Meeting Time: Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM CST – (Status: no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Jade Stanley | View Instructor Bio

Over 34 million individuals are diagnosed with diabetes in the United States alone, resulting in diabetes being one of the leading causes of death in the country and world-wide. Diabetes positively correlates with the obesity epidemic and can result in various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, and ultimately death. Therefore, the urgency of determining a treatment or cure for diabetes is steadily increasing with time. Researchers are constantly trying to search for the causes of diabetes, as well as pinpoint potential treatments and therapeutics for this disease. This mentorship will aim to highlight the fundamental concepts of diabetes and obesity by explaining what diabetes is, how it develops, and what current treatments are available for this disease. We will also delve into the scientific literature to understand what questions researchers are currently asking to understand the mechanisms that underly diabetes progression. Through the literature, we will identify the research techniques, studies, and findings that aim towards the overall mission of discovering a treatment or cure for diabetes. Once we have established a basic understanding of diabetes, we will then identify our own questions we believe are important to explore for diabetes treatment through the lens of pancreatic islets and the molecular mechanisms that are disrupted during diabetes. These questions will be applied to a final project where students will use current techniques and technologies to propose a study for why these mechanisms are disrupted during diabetes.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Stories That Bind Us: Storytelling as a Tool to Engage Self, Community, and Career (June 12, 2023 – September 12, 2023)
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM CST – (Status: no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Jermaine Soto | View Instructor Bio

As we move forward in our academic and career paths, we will encounter interactions across a variety of identities and ideological differences. How we navigate these interactions will determine our success in an increasingly diverse society with a global impact. This course will explore the power of stories in helping us better understand ourselves, strengthen our engagement with others, interact with our communities, and prepare us for success in future career paths. Students will engage in different approaches to storytelling and develop skills to enhance the power of stories within their spheres of influence. We will begin by crafting our individual stories via critical self-reflection. Students will engage in the tenets of Intergroup Dialogue to share their stories with and actively listen to others. Students will learn and utilize basic qualitative research methodologies to capture the stories of their communities. Finally, students will experience how stories and storytelling can be used as a tool to enhance their career ambitions and future success. Final projects will be an in-depth story that captures your experiences with the world you live in.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Biomedical Engineering: An Engineering Approach to Cancer Vaccine Design
Meeting Time: Mondays, 6:00PM to 8:30PM CT
Instructors: Carcia Carson, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship will introduce you to the fields of biomedical engineering and cancer immunology, with a particular focus on learning how to make connections and bridge the fields together in order to advance the clinical landscape of cancer immunotherapies. In the first section of this mentorship, we will cover design considerations for developing nanoparticle-based cancer vaccines. You will gain a fundamental understanding of how the physical properties of nanoparticles affect their biodistribution and targeting, and how these properties influence their interactions in the body. Next, you will learn commonly used techniques associated with clinical research applications within the immunology and medical fields. You will learn how to effectively write up detailed protocols and understand the reasoning and underlying principles for each step. You will then learn how to conduct a literature search and identify quality references on cancer vaccine design. Finally, you will apply your knowledge of vaccines, nanoparticles, and cancer to develop a set of experiments that address current challenges faced by the cancer research community. Overall, this mentorship will teach you how to take an interdisciplinary approach to fighting cancer.

Cancer Drug Discovery: Exploring the Intersections of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 6:00PM to 8:30PM CT
Instructors: Kensey Bergdorf-Smith, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Where do new cancer therapies come from? Will there ever be a cure for cancer? How do we know how much or what kind of chemotherapy to give someone? In this mentorship experience, we will address the cancer biology and pharmacologic principles behind the answers to these questions and more. Our exploration of these questions will begin with an introduction to signal transduction and the biology behind cancer. After we understand the biology and physiology of cancer as a disease, we will apply this knowledge to analyze how particular drugs work in the fight against cancer. Once we have a firm understanding of cancer pharmacology, we will then research how different model systems and methods are used to identify and test the effectiveness of potential new drug candidates before they make it into clinical trials.The material covered in the mentorship will be used to lay the foundation for your final project – an opportunity to apply your new biological and pharmacological understanding to either (1) propose a new process to use in the field to identify ineffective or harmful drugs before they go to clinical trials, or (2) to outline a new potential therapy.

Cancer Metastasis: Understanding How Cancer Spreads
Meeting Time: Mondays, 5:00PM to 7:30PM CT
Instructors: Logan Northcutt, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and the world. This is primarily due to cancer spreading to other parts of the body and causing complications, which is called metastasis. Metastases, the plural form of metastasis, most commonly develop when cancer cells break away from the main tumor and enter the body’s bloodstream or lymphatic system. Scientists are continually seeking new answers to key questions related to metastases.

In this mentorship, we will begin to explore cancer metastasis by surveying the scientific basics of cancer and its origins in the body. From there, we will learn how cancer spreads to other parts of the body and evaluate current therapies used to treat cancer. Through reading primary research, participating in group discussions, and learning from guest speakers who share their work and research, you will be challenged to develop your own answers to key questions in cancer research. At the conclusion of the mentorship experience, you will synthesize your learning to develop a mock scientific research proposal for a cancer-related project and present it to your colleagues.

Neuroscience and Society
Meeting Time: Sundays, 2:00PM to 4:30PM CT
Instructors: Thao Le, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary study of the structure and function of the nervous system. Recent progress in understanding the nervous system and human behavior impacts many aspects of our lives from healthcare and education to law and economics. This mentorship introduces students to the field of neuroscience and contextualizes that knowledge through the investigation of how neuroscience research reflects and shapes societal values and discourse. To do this, we will first learn about the basic anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, followed by an introduction to approaches and techniques in neuroscience research. We will delve into recent advances in the field, examine their current applications, and discuss their potential societal implications.

Throughout the mentorship, students will have the opportunity to critically evaluate primary literature, learn from case studies, and conduct their final projects on a neuroscience-based topic of interest. Examples of potential topics include adolescent brain development and juvenile justice, advances in understanding and treating mental illness, neurobiology of addiction, use of neuroimaging and artificial intelligence in forensics or marketing, cognitive enhancement, and educational neuroscience. Led by a current Vanderbilt MD-PhD student who focuses on psychiatry, this mentorship will also give students a glimpse into the life of a physician-scientist in training and the many career paths in medicine and science.

Rhetorical Advocacy and Criticism
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 5:00PM to 7:30PM CT
Instructors: John Koch, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Words have power. They can influence attitudes, behaviors, and responses. When thoughtfully crafted, words can be used to unite and to create change. Through the analysis of historical speeches and other texts, we will explore how to apply rhetorical criticism and how to improve our own arguments and speeches to influence political, economic, and social change. We will determine the rhetorical techniques that politicians and other agents of change have employed to create powerful messages. In this mentorship, you will engage in designing college-level paper and speech projects. In doing so, you will become a more involved and informed citizen, a better public speaker, and a critical consumer of information. Under the guidance of a Vanderbilt professor who studies rhetoric and debate, you will learn how to think critically, argue effectively, and mobilize support for the issues that matter to you. If you are interested in communications, law, public policy, or politics, then Rhetorical Advocacy and Criticism is the mentorship for you.

Note: This class will involve scholarly consideration of politics and the public sphere. Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Psychological Science Research: Solving the Human Puzzle (7th-8th grades)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 5:00 to 7:00 PM CST
Instructors: Zach Stuckelman, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Would you say yes if someone asked you to work on the world’s greatest, most perplexing puzzle for a living? Psychological science researchers have asked this question! What is this puzzle? Humans! Psychological researchers study how humans think, learn, feel, and why they act in a certain way. If the human puzzle intrigues you, you may be interested in studying psychology and becoming a psychological science researcher. This mini mentorship experience will allow you the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of researching within psychological science so that you have the knowledge to develop a research proposal that interests YOU the most (cognitive, social, or developmental) while receiving a personalized mentorship to make your introduction to psychological research successful and impactful. The final project will be your own research proposal that reflects what psychological researchers are asked to do at the career level. Together, we will learn how to view, interpret, and critique others’ research by studying existing scientific literature and studies. We will then use our budding understanding of psychological research to write research questions, form hypotheses, and design a novel study! 

Science Communication and Policy: How to Break Through the Noise (7th-8th grades)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Loren LaPointe, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

You have one minute to speak to a congressman about a science-related issue dear to your heart, what do you do to make your point loud and clear, and how do you support it with evidence? How does current science communication impact our society’s beliefs, values, and understandings? And, how does this impact policy? How do you take scientific information and communicate it to a broad audience with different levels of scientific understanding?

In this mini mentorship, we will address these questions and more as we investigate the topic of science communication. Why is science communication important to all science enthusiasts? Pursuing a career in science does not follow one path anymore. Many science-based careers start the same way in a traditional undergraduate curriculum with lecture and lab coursework, followed by some type of post-baccalaureate study in the form of a master’s degree, MD, or a PhD. Regardless of the path someone takes in the sciences, to be successful in the field you have to know how to synthesize scientific material and communicate it to a variety of audiences. Science communication influences many aspects of society and policy, so becoming an effective communicator of science knowledge is important for all individuals interested in science-based careers. In this mini mentorship, we will learn how to take science content and communicate it in effective and efficient ways. Get ready to apply your critical thinking skills and communication abilities as we investigate what it truly looks like to be an effective interpreter and communicator of all things science!

Navigating the U.S. Policy Process: From Creation to Implementation (8th-9th grades)
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00 to 9:00 PM CST
Instructor: Christine Dickason | View Instructor Bio 

Every day, public policy is created and implemented in a range of arenas, from local government agencies to the U.S. Congress. How do research and public opinion inform policy and decision-makers? How do advocates use their voice and communication skills to advance their policies? How can policy address issues of equity? Step into the world of public policy and examine key issues through the lens of social sciences and economics. Strengthen your own voice and perspective by participating in policy debate and supporting your arguments using your new toolbox of skills learned in this class. Be prepared to grapple with current political topics such as education, healthcare, taxation, and foreign policy.

With the guidance of your mentor, this mini mentorship will culminate in your authoring a policy proposal where you have the opportunity to research and make an argument for the proposed policy change. In the past, students’ projects have dealt with topics as diverse as ensuring clean waterways making housing more affordable to reforming the health care system! What will be your project? Get ready to put your new knowledge to use as you advocate for policy change!

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings, and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Environmental Toxicology: Assessing the Relationship between Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Human Health (8th-9th grades)
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM CST
Instructor: Victoria Stephens | View Instructor Bio

Environmental toxicology is the study of toxic substances as it relates to the health of living organisms and the environment. Not surprisingly, assessing the effects of toxins and toxicants on human health is one of the foremost focuses of this field. A subset of these environmentally toxic chemicals can be classified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), exogenous chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system, which is vital for regulating the body’s development and function. Unfortunately, humans are chronically exposed to EDCs throughout their lifetime through various mechanisms, including ingestion of contaminated foods and/or beverages, use of cosmetics and other personal care items, and inhalation of polluted air. Despite increased evidence that links EDCs to adverse effects on human health, a consensus on the cause-and-effect relationship has yet to be reached. We will begin this mini mentorship by learning more about the endocrine system. We will then explore several aspects of EDCs on this system, including routes of EDC exposure, their mechanisms of action, and ways exposure can be reduced. Furthermore, we will examine evidence that links EDC exposure to adverse effects on human health. Lastly, we will discuss several career paths that directly or indirectly contribute to the field of environmental toxicology. These discussion points will equip students with the basis for preparing a mini presentation focused on the potential relationship between EDC exposure and disease as a career professional of their choosing for the final project.

Biomedical Engineering Approaches to Cancer
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 5:30 to 8:00 PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Jenna Mosier, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

What drives cancer progression? What makes cancer cells different from their normal, healthy counterparts? And how do we go about understanding and treating a disease that is so complex and patient-specific? Biomedical engineering research provides a means to answer these questions by using engineering principles to develop technology and build platforms based on cancer biology. The first part of this mentorship experience will guide you through the basic research principles used to explore and understand cancer cell behavior and tumor progression, highlighting the tools researchers use in the lab, such as cell culture, microscopy, molecular biology, and microfabrication. Once a foundation in research techniques has been established, we will focus on key engineered models that have been developed and are currently being utilized to probe the heterogeneous and complex nature of cancer and metastasis, including in vitro platforms, like 3D collagen gels, cell migration assays, microchannels, and in vivo models, to probe tumor formation and progression in real time. Current cancer researchers will join us to share their approach to solving problems and engage in conversation about their experiences and journey through research, industry, and academia. We will also dive into scientific literature to review fundamental and influential techniques in the field and explore groundbreaking, pivotal research currently being conducted in labs across the globe. In your final project, you will get the opportunity to become an engineer and apply your knowledge of different cancer research methodologies, platforms, and models to current challenges researchers face today. 

Economics: Finding Common Ground Across Industries
Meeting Time: Sundays, 3:30 to 6:00 PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Devaki Chandra, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

What role does economics play when leaders are attempting to mitigate current problems in our society? How do leaders balance economic principles with the needs of various industries and stakeholders to come up with solutions?

This mentorship will start with instruction of the principles of microeconomics to provide a foundational understanding of the market and cost structure of perfect competition, oligarchy, and monopoly. After laying this foundation, students will be introduced to the principles of the macro economy, such as inflation around supply and demand with interest rates. The second half of the mentorship will involve applying the principles learned by using a case study approach of the economies of two states – California and Tennessee. The case study will include investigating the role economics plays in policymaking in areas such as energy, agriculture, labor force, and education in both states. The goal of this state comparison will be to identify how policymakers apply economic principles and incorporate opposing views to develop common ground and identify solutions. The mentorship will conclude with a final project where students will incorporate lessons learned from the case study to apply economic principles and opposing views to propose a solution for an identified problem in a selected industry.

The knowledge from this mentorship can help anyone interested in formulating policy or law, marketing, or working on a political campaign. This mentorship will focus on economics as it applies it to given industries to begin to solve real-world problems. If you want to understand how economics impact how we approach current issues in our country and why, no matter your personal scholastic pursuit – join us!

From Lab to Life: How Psychology Research Connects To Our Development As People
Meeting Time: Mondays, 5:00 to 7:30 PM CST (Status: available, limited space)
Instructor: Nicolette Granata, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Developmental psychology researchers investigate all things related to human behavior from the simple motor reactions we have as infants to how we learn second languages as both children and adults to the impact of emotions on our performance in school or work. This mentorship is focused on introducing you to the field of social science research, specifically through the lens of developmental psychology and child development including how psychologists study human development and what the field of developmental psychology has helped us learn about ourselves and others. We will start the mentorship by introducing a variety of theories concerning how we develop our psychology (i.e., our emotions, our personalities, our preferences, etc.). We will then map various research methods involved in studying development and how they apply beyond the research lab context to our lives. We also will evaluate various statistical methods to understand how we transfer raw data in the social sciences to actual analyzable results. After establishing a foundation in developmental psychology research and methods, you will develop your own research study based on questions asked throughout the class. Through your own data collection and analysis, you will learn how psychology research can be used to explain changes throughout life and the role context plays in development. We will learn how discoveries in this field can impact our everyday life. If you are interested in child development, cognitive development, child studies, development psychology, and the practical implications of research on education, this mentorship is for you. 

Human Justice and the Theory of Change
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Rebecca Townsley, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Can and do human societies change? This may seem to be a question with an obvious answer. But is it? We find ourselves asking the same questions as civilizations and societies roll over and over. I ask again, can we change? Do we change? How? Is it through theory and philosophy? Activism and movement? Discovery and scientific exchange? Governance and law? Love and war?  

This mentorship is an interdisciplinary opportunity to consider ideas of human justice through the exploration of what makes and molds human society and community. We will specifically anchor ourselves in political theory, philosophy, and poetry (yes, poetry) and consider the ways that humans not only come into community and governance together but manage to remain so. This will mean an investigation of power, rights, citizenship, violence, love, social justice, law, family, war, discipline, and distribution. Open to students from all disciplines, this mentorship will challenge you to think about some of the deep themes of what makes us human, how we determine ways to exist together, and whether, how, when, why, or do we change.  

Additionally, we will work together on learning rigorous research skills, finding and sharing resources, developing ideas for projects, and becoming comfortable with giving and receiving feedback across disciplinary boundaries. What can a future lawyer learn from a poet? What can a painter learn from a physics student? What can a budding political scientist learn from an activist interested in social service work? More importantly: what SHOULD we be learning from each other? If you are interested in how humans formulate ideas of justice, decide societal rules, and if and how they bend or create different societies, if you want to develop cross-disciplinary research, writing, and critical thinking skills, if you want to be exposed to foundations of political theory that you can and will use, no matter your personal scholastic pursuit – welcome!  

Neuroscience and Society
Meeting Time: Sundays, 2:00 to 4:30 PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Thao Le, M.D. and Doctoral Candidate |View Instructor Bio

Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary study of the structure and function of the nervous system. Recent progress in understanding the nervous system and human behavior impacts many aspects of our lives from healthcare and education to law and economics. This mentorship introduces students to the field of neuroscience and contextualizes that knowledge through the investigation of how neuroscience research reflects and shapes societal values and discourse. To do this, we will first learn about the basic anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, followed by an introduction to approaches and techniques in neuroscience research. We will delve into recent advances in the field, examine their current applications, and discuss their potential societal implications. Throughout the mentorship, students will have the opportunity to critically evaluate primary literature, learn from case studies, and conduct their final projects on topics including adolescent brain development and juvenile justice, advances in understanding and treating mental illness, neurobiology of addiction, use of neuroimaging and artificial intelligence in forensics or marketing, cognitive enhancement, educational neuroscience, and more. Led by a current Vanderbilt MD-PhD student, this mentorship will give students a glimpse into the life of a physician-scientist in training and the many career paths in medicine and science.  

Pancreas Biology: Understanding the Physiological Mechanisms of Diabetes Progression
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 5:00 to 7:30 PM CST (Status: available, limited space)
Instructor: Jade Stanley, Doctoral Candidate |View Instructor Bio

Over 34 million individuals are diagnosed with diabetes in the United States alone, resulting in diabetes being one of the leading causes of death in the country and world-wide. Diabetes positively correlates with the obesity epidemic and can result in various chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, and ultimately death. Therefore, the urgency of determining a treatment or cure for diabetes is steadily increasing with time. Researchers are constantly trying to search for the causes of diabetes, as well as pinpoint potential treatments and therapeutics for this disease. This mentorship will aim to highlight the fundamental concepts of diabetes and obesity by explaining what diabetes is, how it develops, and what current treatments are available for this disease. We will also delve into the scientific literature to understand what questions researchers are currently asking to understand the mechanisms that underly diabetes progression. Through the literature, we will identify the research techniques, studies, and findings that aim towards the overall mission of discovering a treatment or cure for diabetes. Once we have established a basic understanding of diabetes, we will then identify our own questions we believe are important to explore for diabetes treatment through the lens of pancreatic islets and the molecular mechanisms that are disrupted during diabetes. These questions will be applied to a final project where students will use current techniques and technologies to propose a study for why these mechanisms are disrupted during diabetes. 

Principles of Microbiology: Discovery Through Art
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM CST (Status: available, limited space)
Instructor: Jamisha D. Francis, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Arts education must be part of our education solution because it works for all students. -Kerry Washington

Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms, such as viruses, fungi, protozoa, and bacteria that are invisible to the naked eye. In this mentorship, students will be immersed in the world of microbiology and techniques used in the field, learning the fundamentals of microbiology while using bacteria as their model organism. To understand microbial concepts, the instructor will use an array of figures and graphics to teach the course, and students will be able to bridge their love for both science and art and learn how to make graphics that tell their scientific story.

This course will be split into four sections: introduction to microbiology, techniques in microbiology, microbiology across disciplines, and careers in microbiology. Students will use the principles of microbiology learned throughout the course to map out figures and images that can be used to explain advanced microbiology concepts. They will also learn the fundamentals of 5 major infection causing bacteria and allow students to use art to communicate science while maintaining scientific integrity. We will also have guest lectures from various scientific disciples (PhD, MD, and Dentistry students) to further students’ understanding of the importance of microbiology, sharing their journey from high school to their current roles as scientists, physicians, professors, instructors, and more. To culminate their mentorship experience, students will be required to design and present two original figures using concepts learned throughout the course.

Studies in Clinical Psychology: Principles and Applications of Research Science
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 5:00 to 7:30 PM CST (Status: available, limited space)
Instructor: Pietra Bruni, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Led by a clinical psychology graduate student at Vanderbilt, this mentorship will address the intersection between clinical and research psychology and focus on the exciting and complex work that happens in the field of research science. Clinical psychologists are focused on causes, treatments, and prevention of different types of disorders. Clinical psychologists who are involved in research science ask questions like — How do we learn about the way people think, feel, and behave? How can psychopathology be studied in an ethical way? What approaches are used for disseminating research findings, and how are findings utilized in clinical settings? This mentorship will provide a base of content knowledge crucial to the field, so that you can begin the process of designing and developing your own research project. Throughout the mentorship you can expect advanced lectures, labs, extensive study, an introduction to clinical resources used in the field, and guest lectures from fellow clinicians and research scientists.  

Coupled with this content knowledge will be discussions on research design methods. How do you design a study? What are ethical practices for involving people? What is a good question? How do you get approval to conduct a study? How do you analyze and interpret data? Ultimately, you will use your research science understanding to create an independent project (with input from your mentor) as you synthesize literature in the field about a current clinical psychology question. The possibilities for your own project are endless and could be related to a specific psychopathology, social-connectedness in the time of COVID, the gut-brain connection, or another area of inquiry based on your interests. You will develop a researchable question, propose sound methods to address this question, and begin the exciting process of finding answers to your questions! This mentorship is designed to challenge you to see the world the way a clinical research scientist does—pushing you to explore your interests in both creative and empirically meaningful ways. As research projects are a part of every academic discipline, the skills learned in this mentorship will help prepare you for success in college level courses while still in high school. Come ready to explore the diverse fields of clinical psychology and research science. 

The American Legal System: Think Like A Lawyer
Meeting Time: Saturdays, 11:00 to 1:30 PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Zachary J. Richards, Esq.| View Instructor Bio

You may know laws are passed from your high school civics or history class, but do you know how federal regulations are promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency or what gives Congress the authority to interrogate the President’s cabinet in televised committee hearings?  Why is it illegal to hunt albino deer in Tennessee but not Georgia?  Could I argue my most recent speeding ticket is Unconstitutional?  

In this course, students will see the machinations of government and study the law.  We will begin our studies learning about the Constitution and Separation of Powers that are the building blocks to our legal system.  From there, we will discuss standards of Evidence and the anatomy of a case from start to finish, and then move to discuss the doctrinal subjects that every “1L,” or first-year law student, studies in American law schools.  These subjects include Property, Torts, and Contracts, but we will also cover other topics like consumer protection law, criminal protections, corporations, antitrust and wills, and estates.  To cover so many topics, we will hold lectures, read real cases, examine legal scholarship, and review litigation documents to gain a holistic account of the philosophies and arguments offered by multiple, differing perspectives.  We will engage in discussions, watch video clips, and listen to oral argument, and perhaps most importantly, we will test the legal rules we’ve learned in hypotheticals designed to emphasize the challenge of fitting the messiness of the real world into legal frameworks—just like in law school!  

This mentorship will culminate in students authoring an original piece of legal scholarship on a topic of their choosing.  With the guidance of the mentor, students will independently research a topic that is important to them and make an argument with respect to that legal issue.  In the past, students’ projects have concerned topics as diverse as the First Amendment’s application to Social Media Platforms, the Constitutionality of solitary confinement, originalism and religious protections, and intellectual property protections of music and fashion.  The choice is yours! 

A Physics Primer: Breaking Barriers with Quantum Mechanics (May 16, 2022 – August 14, 2022)
Meeting Time: Saturdays from 9:00 to 11:00AM CST and Sundays from 3:00 to 5:00PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Thayer S. Walmsley, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Classical physics does an excellent job at explaining the world around us as we see it. But when “looking” at the atomic scale, this understanding begins to break down. The examination of the imperceptibly small requires a quantum understanding. Strange, unbelievable things happen at the atomic level where light is both a particle and a wave, and particles can penetrate barriers. The faster you are the heavier you become! Examining and understanding these phenomena are fundamental to innovative electronic devices. In this mentorship, you will begin by exploring the conceptual basis for the different areas of physics in order to ground your historical understanding of quantum mechanics and its discovery. You will then investigate the concept of a wave function as you work towards an initial understanding of the basic features of quantum mechanics. With that important theoretical foundation, you will explore “Tunneling” as a precursor for beginning to survey current primary research that takes advantage of this phenomenon (such as in two-dimensional material devices). As you build on this conceptual framework and begin to develop your own academic fluency in the field, you will propose and complete a final project that critically explores the field of physics through the lens of quantum mechanics.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Brain-Body Interactions: From Health to Disease (May 16, 2022 – August 14, 2022)
Meeting Time: Sundays from 2:30 to 4:30PM CST and Mondays from 7:00 to 9:00PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Thao Le | View Instructor Bio

Ever wonder why you feel hungry, thirsty, or stressed? In this mentorship, we will investigate the many ways the brain and the rest of the body use chemical signals or hormones to communicate with each other and thereby regulate vital bodily functions such as hunger, fullness, cravings, and stress (and yes, stress is important!).

To do this, we will first learn the relevant anatomy and physiology responsible for these common experiences. We will then assess key studies and findings from the fields of neuroscience, physiology, and endocrinology to develop a deeper understanding of how each of these essential functions takes place and what happens when things go awry. Throughout the mentorship, you will learn to analyze scientific literature, develop research questions, conduct your own research, and ultimately create and present an independent research product. Led by a senior Vanderbilt MD-PhD student, this mentorship will give you a glimpse into the life of a physician scientist in training as well as the many career paths in medicine and biomedical research..

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Computer Science: Tools for Enhancing Cybersecurity (May 16, 2022 – August 14, 2022)
Meeting Time: Tuesdays from 5:00 to 7:00PM CST and Thursdays from 5:00 to 7:00PM CST (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Chris Simmons, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

As threats to personal, enterprise and global security become ever more prevalent and sophisticated, effective cybersecurity has become a more complex and multi-faceted challenge. To meet the growing threat of cybercrime, which results in billions of lost dollars each year, cybersecurity theorists and professionals have developed emerging strategies that promise to improve online safety. Two critical tools are at the center of these strategies: blockchain technology and honeypots. Blockchain technology is used as a decentralized ledger process to increase anonymity where transactions are stored in a chain of blocks. Honeypots are used as a decoy mechanism to gain insight into attack targets. In this cybersecurity mentorship, we will examine the effectiveness of various cryptographic techniques and their impact on security as well as consider how businesses develop and implement basic organizational security policies. After engaging blockchain technology and honeypot strategies, you will critically consider how these emerging tools will shape the future of cybersecurity training.

Genetic Epidemiology: Introduction and Application of Health-Related Genetic Information (June 13, 2022 – September 10, 2022)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00PM CT (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Brittany Hollister, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

The fast-paced field of genetic epidemiology is focused on understanding how differences in DNA (genetic variation) among humans can influence disease risk in communities. In this mentorship, students will begin with the fundamental principles of genetic epidemiology and focus on applying these principles to the challenges currently facing the field. We will discuss how to succeed in the field of genetic epidemiology, as well as set goals for our experience. The first section of the mentorship will cover fundamental principles of human genetics as well as biostatistics, both of which are needed in genetic epidemiology. You will then explore how to conduct analyses of genetic data by completing labs and learning programming in an analysis software used by researchers across many scientific areas. Furthermore, you will consider how genetic information can be applied and used to make decisions to improve human health. Throughout the mentorship, you will hear from current geneticists working in different subfields. We will conclude the mentorship with the opportunity to design your own genetic analysis from existing data or design a proposed solution for addressing one of the field’s current challenges as an independent project.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

From Lab to Life: How Psychology Research Connects to our Development as People (June 13, 2022 – September 10, 2022)
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 5:00 to 7:00PM CT (Status: full, no longer accepting applications)
Instructor: Zach Stuckelman | View Instructor Bio

Developmental psychology researchers investigate all things related to human behavior from the simple motor reactions we have as infants to how we learn second languages as both children and adults to the impact of emotions on our performance in school or work. This mentorship is focused on introducing you to the field of social science research, specifically through the lens of developmental psychology and child development including how psychologists study human development and what the field of developmental psychology has helped us learn about ourselves and others. We will start the mentorship by introducing a variety of theories concerning how we develop our psychology (i.e., our emotions, our personalities, our preferences, etc.). We will then map various research methods involved in studying development and how they apply beyond the research lab context to our lives. We also will evaluate various statistical methods to understand how we transfer raw data in the social sciences to actual analyzable results. After establishing a foundation in developmental psychology research and methods, you will develop your own research study based on developmental psychology questions asked throughout the class. Through your own data collection and analysis, you will learn how psychology research can be used to explain changes throughout life and the role context plays in development. We will learn how discoveries in this field can impact our everyday life. If you are interested in child development, cognitive development, child studies, development psychology, and the practical implications of research on education, this mentorship is for you.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Biomedical Engineering Approaches to Cancer
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 4:00 to 6:30 PM CT
Instructor: Jenna Mosier | View Instructor Bio

What drives cancer progression? What makes cancer cells different from their normal, healthy counterparts? And how do we go about understanding and treating a disease that is so complex and patient-specific? Biomedical engineering research provides a means to answer these questions by using engineering principles to develop technology and build platforms based on cancer biology. The first part of this mentorship experience will guide you through the basic research principles used to explore and understand cancer cell behavior and tumor progression, highlighting the tools researchers use in the lab, such as cell culture, microscopy, molecular biology, and microfabrication. Once a foundation in research techniques has been established, we will focus on key engineered models that have been developed and are currently being utilized to probe the heterogeneous and complex nature of cancer and metastasis, including in vitro platforms like 3D collagen gels, cell migration assays, microchannels, and in vivo models, to probe tumor formation and progression in real time. Current cancer researchers will join us to share their approach to solving problems and engage in conversation about their experiences and journey through research, industry, and academia. We will also dive into scientific literature to review fundamental and influential techniques in the field and explore groundbreaking, pivotal research currently being conducted in labs across the globe. In your final project, you will get the opportunity to become an engineer and apply your knowledge of different cancer research methodologies, platforms, and models to current challenges researchers face today.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Brain-Immune Interactions in Alzheimer’s Disease: When the Brain’s Defenses Do More Than Fight Infection
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 5:30 to 8:00 PM CT
Instructor: Katie Volk | View Instructor Bio

Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by severe memory loss and behavioral impairments, occurring primarily in individuals over 65 years old. As the leading cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease is characterized by a variety of changes in the brain which coincide with the onset of changes in thinking ability. In particular, did you know that the brain contains its own immune system which plays a central role during the progression of this disease? In this mentorship, you will be introduced to fundamental concepts in neuroscience, as well as the emerging topics related to the function of the immune system in the brain, and how these concepts are explored in current scientific research. Specifically, we will investigate what happens when these systems malfunction and lead to neurodegeneration and eventual disease. As part of this mentorship, you will participate in a variety of exercises to engage with current scientific research in brain disease, to think critically to develop your own questions, and to assist you in designing an original research idea and approach as part of your independent project at the end of the program. This mentorship, led by a Vanderbilt Biomedical Ph.D. candidate who studies changes in the brain during the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease, will allow you to gain exposure to both the traditional field of neuroscience and the emerging field of neuro-immunology from the unique vantage point of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Required Prerequisite: At least one year of Honors or AP Biology.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Cerebration: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Lawyer
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 5:00 to 7:30 PM CT
Instructor: Mecca Anderson, Esq | View Instructor Bio

Law school is known for changing the way you think. What law school training and theories can be applied to our day-to-day decision making? From the lay perspective, what does it mean to think like a lawyer? What roles do lawyers play in identifying, analyzing, solving, or creating, problems? In this mentorship experience, we will explore these questions as a lawyer would. We will issue spot, ask questions, research, critically analyze, identify assumptions, represent every position, make decisions, and persuade our mentee-mates to the rightness of our informed perspectives! Headline making lawyers will be our guides with readings, audio, and videos serving as our medium. We will be governed only by the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Our method? Socratic, of course. This is not a lecture. This is a highly curated and moderated discussion between peers about the role of the lawyer, as individuals thinking like lawyers. You will select what lawyers we discuss. You will research and then present the lawyer and the lawyer’s cause to us. You will explore and argue all viewpoints and field questions with persuasion. Preparing for these sessions will be time-consuming, but the subject matter will be captivating. You may not be a lawyer, but you will begin to think like one in this mentorship.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Host-Virus Interactions: Delineating an Evolutionary Arms Race
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm CT
Instructor: Sam Lisy | View Instructor Bio

Viruses are defined as intracellular obligate parasites— organisms that can only live and reproduce within a host cell. Host cells contain mechanisms to fight off viruses. How has either organism managed to survive under the constant threat from the other? Over the evolutionary timescale, viruses have co-evolved with host cells to hijack their machinery and evade detection by the immune system. While viruses have always been a threat to the organisms that they infect, the impact of viruses on their host has been exemplified more than ever this past year with the circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARs-CoV-2). In this mentorship, students will learn the fundamentals behind a viral life cycle, the cellular immune system, and the evolutionary war between the two organisms. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and learn how to critically read scientific journal articles. Content covered in the course will be directly relevant to interpreting real-world events such as why SARs-CoV-2 had pandemic potential, methods of testing for viral infection (eg. qPCR vs antigen tests), and the establishment of vaccine and other antiviral therapeutics.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Recommended pre-requisite: Intro to biology course (familiarity with the “central dogma” of biology would be helpful)

Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Work: Investigating When Pancreatic Physiology Goes Wrong
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:30 PM CT
Instructor: Tiffany Richardson | View Instructor Bio

Did you know that someone is diagnosed with diabetes every 21 seconds? Diabetes occurs when a person has inappropriately high blood sugar levels. Because these levels are controlled by hormones secreted from pancreatic cell clusters, researchers focused on curing diabetes spend time investigating pancreatic physiology. This mentorship will introduce you to the foundational concepts in pancreatic physiology, metabolism, and endocrine hormones in order to showcase how these concepts are investigated in diabetes research. With this foundation, we will critically consider what happens when these processes go awry during diabetes and obesity. Throughout the course, you will work towards an understanding of the biology of diabetes and obesity while also learning about the toll these conditions take on one’s life in both the short and long term. As part of the mentorship, you will participate in a variety of experiences from developing and presenting a public service announcement (PSA) that is intended to inform and alert your localities about diabetes and obesity to participating in scholarly research by analyzing data from this field, drawing scientific conclusions, and presenting findings. Through these experiences, this mentorship introduces you to the field of physiology through the lens of diabetes research.

Recommended pre-requisites for class: One-year of introductory cell biology and one year of anatomy; additional science courses are helpful but optional.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Nanotechnology in Cancer: Small Solutions to Big Problems
Meeting Time: Mondays, 5:00 to 7:30 PM CT
Instructor: María López Cavestany | View Instructor Bio

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and with our increasing lifespan, the incidence is only getting higher. While medicine has developed very promising chemotherapies and radiation treatments, these can have harmful side effects and be detrimental to patients in the long term. So, what if science came up with a solution to get all the positive effects of current treatments straight to the tumor site without causing harm to the rest of the body? This is where nanotechnology comes into play! In the first half of this class, we will discuss that makes cancer “cancer”. We will explore questions like — How are doctors able to diagnose and treat it? What are the most prevalent cancer types and how have each of them led to important turning points in medical history? After a firm foundation in understanding cancer as a disease, we will switch gears and dive deep into how nano-biomaterials can support cancer research and treatment! We will analyze scientific papers about current cutting-edge nanoparticles and devices, and we will learn how these are currently being used to improve diagnosis and treatment methods for cancer. We will explore such questions as –How are nanomaterials made? How can you see them? How do they interact with the human body? And, most importantly, how are they helping us better understand cancer as a disease? Throughout this mentorship, we will critically engage current scientific literature as well as learn the process of how a device/drug goes from a lab benchtop to the clinic as we acquire the content and skills needed to complete a final project that directly relates to the work experts do in this field.

Required Prerequisite: At least one year of Honors or AP Biology.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Protein Structure Prediction: Exploring Biomolecules in 3D
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 4:00 to 6:30 PM CT
Instructor: Hope Woods | View Instructor Bio

Proteins are like tiny machines responsible for all the work in our cells and these tiny machines are made up of molecules known as amino acids. The sequence of amino acids that make up a protein determines its structure, and the structure determines its function. Recent technological advances have made more than 200,000 structures available through the protein databank (PDB)! These structures can be analyzed to give us insight into how proteins function and we can use these structures to guide our understanding of how sequence determines structure. This understanding gives us tools to predict protein structures that are not determined, analyze how mutations may impact protein structure, design proteins with novel function, and many more applications. In this mentorship, you will critically engage cutting edge methods of determining protein structure such as x-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance. You will also learn about forces that govern protein structure, computational tools to predict protein structure, and protein design. As you progress through the mentorship, you will have the opportunity to develop basic skills for coding in Python and will use these skills to answer a hypothetical research question related to an area of protein research, such as predicting the molecular effect of mutations in a protein associated with a disease or designing an antibody to improve binding to a specific antigen. This mentorship, led by a graduate student in Vanderbilt’s Chemical and Physical Biology program, will combine concepts from biology, chemistry, and computer science.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Studies in Clinical Psychology: Principles and Applications of Research Science
Meeting Time: Mondays, 5:30 to 8:00 PM CT
Instructor: Pietra Bruni | View Instructor Bio

Led by a clinical psychology graduate student at Vanderbilt, this mentorship will address the intersection between clinical and research psychology and focus on the exciting and complex work that happens in the field of research science. Clinical psychologists are focused on causes, treatments, and prevention of different types of disorders. Clinical psychologists who are involved in research science ask questions like — How do we learn about the way people think, feel, and behave? How can psychopathology be studied in an ethical way? What approaches are used for disseminating research findings, and how are findings utilized in clinical settings?

The mentorship will provide a base of content knowledge crucial to the field, so that you can begin the process of designing and developing your own research project. Throughout this mentorship you can expect advanced lectures, labs, extensive study, an introduction to clinical resources used in the field, and guest lectures from fellow clinicians and research scientists. Coupled with this content knowledge will be discussions on research design methods. How do you design a study? What are ethical practices for involving people? What is a good question? How do you get approval to conduct a study? How do you analyze and interpret data? Ultimately, you will use your research science understanding to create an independent project (with input from your mentor) as you synthesize literature in the field about a current clinical psychology question. The possibilities for your own project are endless and could be related to a specific psychopathology, social-connectedness in the time of COVID, the gut-brain connection, or another area of inquiry based on your interests. You will develop a researchable question, propose sound methods to address this question, and begin the exciting process of finding answers to your questions! This mentorship is designed to challenge you to see the world the way a clinical research scientist does—pushing to explore your interests in both a creative and empirically meaningful way. As research projects are a part of every academic discipline, the skills learned in this mentorship will help prepare you for success in college level courses while still in high school. Come ready to explore the diverse field of clinical psychology and research science.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Astrophysics: Using Data to Discover the Physics of Galaxies
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 4:30 to 6:30 PM CST (Status: Full, Waiting List Only)
Prerequisites : Algebra 1
Instructor: Christina Davis, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio; Nicholas Chason, Doctoral Candidate View Instructor Bio

In the last 100 years, astronomers discovered that our Milky Way was just one of the billions of galaxies in the Universe. Galaxies vary wildly in size, color, shape, and brightness but understanding the source of these differences reveals all kinds of grander things about our Universe. In this mentorship, we will use data and mathematical principles to slowly uncover trends about the galaxies in the Universe, just as researchers do.

You will learn how to ask your own research questions related to the astrophysics of galaxies. Then you will collect data, analyze the data, and draw scientific conclusions. We’ll use both observational datasets as well as simulation data to explore spiral arms, dark matter, black holes, galaxy mergers, and the expanding universe! By the end of the mentorship experience, you will have a taste of what it means to be an astronomer today. With that will come the knowledge of where to access public astronomical databases and how to ask scientifically relevant questions as we discover more and more about the Universe.

Biomedical Engineering: An Engineering Approach to Cancer Vaccine Design
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 5:30 to 7:30 PM CST (Status: Full, No Longer Accepting Applications)
Instructor: Carcia Carson, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Led by a graduate researcher at Vanderbilt, this mentorship will introduce you to the fields of biomedical engineering and cancer immunology, with a particular focus on learning how to make connections and bridge the fields together in order to advance the clinical landscape of cancer immunotherapies.

Throughout the mentorship, we will have guest speakers that will share their experiences as researchers who are working in industry and academia. In the first section of this mentorship we will cover design considerations for developing nanoparticle-based cancer vaccines. You will gain a fundamental understanding of how the physical properties of nanoparticles affect their biodistribution and targeting, and how these properties influence their interactions in the body. Next, you will learn commonly used techniques associated with clinical research applications within the immunology and medical fields. You will learn how to effectively write up detailed protocols and understand the reasoning and underlying principles for each step. You will then learn how to conduct a literature search and identify quality references on cancer vaccine design. Finally, you will apply your knowledge of vaccines, nanoparticles, and cancer to develop a set of experiments that address current challenges faced by the cancer research community. Overall, this mentorship will teach you how to take an interdisciplinary approach to fighting cancer.

Brain-Body Interactions: From Health to Disease
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 PM CST (Status: Full, No Longer Accepting Applications)
Instructor: Thao Le, MD/Ph.D. Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Ever wonder why you feel hungry, thirsty, or stressed? In this mentorship, we will investigate the many ways the brain and the rest of the body use chemical signals or hormones to communicate with each other and thereby regulate vital bodily functions such as hunger, fullness, cravings, and stress (and yes, stress is important!).

To do this, we will first learn the relevant anatomy and physiology responsible for these common experiences. We will then assess key studies and findings from the fields of neuroscience, physiology, and endocrinology to develop a deeper understanding of how each of these essential functions takes place and what happens when things go awry. Throughout the mentorship, you will learn to read scientific literature, develop your own research questions and hypotheses, design experiments and methods to test them, and ultimately create an independent research product or project. Led by a senior Vanderbilt MD-PhD student, this mentorship will give you a glimpse into the life of a physician scientist in training as well as the many career paths in medicine and biomedical research.

Community, Collaboration, Creative Writing, and New Play Development: An Immersive Theatremaking Experience
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 4:00 to 6:00 PM CST (Status: Full, Waiting List Only)
Instructor: David Lee, MFA | View Instructor Bio

“Every day when I sit down to write, I can’t remember how it’s done.”
– Suzan-Lori Parks

An adage about the often-solitary nature of writing goes something like this: “Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at the blank sheet of paper until sweat forms on your forehead.” However, there is another model, and in this class we’ll explore the role of the playwright as community-builder and creative leader. You’ll learn about story structure, dramatic conventions, and mechanics of theatrical writing. But you’ll also learn what it is to workshop a play, to collaborate with creatives, and to hone your words via table reads and devising practices. This is a class not just for writers but for anyone with a story to tell. There’s no one way to be a playwright, and together we’ll chart an unexpected path to End of Play.

Computer Science: Tools for Enhancing Cybersecurity
Meeting Time: Mondays, 4:00 to 6:00 PM CST (Status: Full, Waiting List Only)
Instructor: Chris Simmons, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

As threats to personal, enterprise and global security become ever more prevalent and sophisticated, effective cybersecurity has become a more complex and multi-faceted challenge. To meet the growing threat of cybercrime, which results in billions of lost dollars each year, cybersecurity theorists and professionals have developed emerging strategies that promise to improve online safety. Two critical tools are at the center of these strategies: blockchain technology and honeypots. Blockchain technology is used as a decentralized ledger process to increase anonymity where transactions are stored in a chain of blocks. Honeypots are used as a decoy mechanism to gain insight into attack targets. In this cybersecurity mentorship, we will examine the effectiveness of various cryptographic techniques and their impact on security as well as consider how businesses develop and implement basic organizational security policies. After engaging blockchain technology and honeypot strategies, you will critically consider how these emerging tools will shape the future of cybersecurity training.

Data Science for Transportation: How do we move in cities?
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 5:30 to 7:30 PM CST (Status: Full, No Longer Accepting Applications)
Instructor: William Barbour, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Every one of us uses various forms of transportation in our daily lives. It is a universal experience, but one in which we all have unique needs and interact with differently. Transportation decisions influence many aspects of our cities: housing, land use, green space, recreation, equity, employment, and more. The infrastructure that we put in place costs millions of dollars, lasts decades, and is used by thousands of people – so the stakes are high! In this mentorship experience, we will examine our transportation and our cities from a data-driven perspective. You will learn new tools to analyze data, create visualizations, and convey complex information to others. Programming will be performed in Python, which is a free and easy-to-learn language widely used by amateur and professional data scientists alike. We will explore spatial data and mapping, machine learning models, online data APIs, and database structures and processing, to name a few. However, data science without domain context is incomplete. We will study the history and human impacts of transportation and cities, as this directly informs the important questions that we ask and investigate with data. You will be expected to read and discuss topical material and apply what you learn, ultimately, back to the code that you write. The techniques and skills you learn can be directly transferrable to other programming languages and, for that matter, to countless other application domains.

Fundamentals of the Brain: A Physician-Scientist Perspective
Meeting Time: Mondays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST (Status: Full, No Longer Accepting Applications)
Instructor: Candace Grisham, MD/Ph.D. Candidate | View Instructor Bio

This course led by a Vanderbilt MD/Ph.D. student will expose students to neuroscience through three modules: Anatomy and Function of the Brain: Developing the Basics, Engineering the Human Mind, and Medical Practice and the Brain: Neurology and Neurosurgery.

Get ready to spend the first portion of the course critically evaluating the intricacies of basic neuroscience including neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. Next, the content learned in the first portion of the course will be applied to engineering principles commonly used in medical practice. We will examine current technology advancements in neurology and neurosurgery including deep brain stimulation, stereotactic neurosurgery, and common imaging. Then we will explore common neurologic and neurosurgical pathologies. To complement this understanding, you will learn from neurologists and neurosurgeons who will serve as guest speakers. Expect a rigorous and engaging curriculum focused on critically thinking and understanding engineering innovation, and application.

Legal Reasoning and the American Legal System
Meeting Time: Saturdays, 12:00 to 2:00 PM CST (Status: Full, No Longer Accepting Applications)
Instructor: Kyle Brinker, J.D. Candidate| View Instructor Bio and Cole Schott, J.D. Candidate| View Instructor Bio

This mentorship is focused on the law and legal profession. Legal reasoning refers to the methods that various players in the legal profession—judges, attorneys, regulators, and politicians—use to apply law and fact to resolve legal questions. These parties all play different roles writing, interpreting and enforcing the laws, and in this mentorship, we will learn about these various roles and how they relate and interact in the American legal system. We will discuss various substantive areas of the law, including procedural and substantive protections in the Constitution, as well as Torts, Contracts, and other doctrinal areas that every first-year law student studies. Led by an attorney who has practiced in a major American law firm, clerked for a federal judge, and gained experience in both the United States House of Representatives and Senate, students can expect to gain a wide exposure to “how the system works.” This mentorship will also give you the opportunity to select a topic of interest to research and produce a work product with your mentor’s support. The topics for these projects are up to the you and could range from issues relating to food regulation, to the merits and problems of eminent domain, to the constitutionality of speech laws. Regardless of topic, be prepared to read difficult legal materials, extract information, and make focused arguments for their positions. You will learn to think like a lawyer while learning legal doctrine and the structure of the American legal system.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Studies in Clinical Psychology: Principles and Applications of Research Science
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST (Status: Full, No Longer Accepting Applications)
Instructor: Pietra Bruni, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Led by a clinical psychology graduate student at Vanderbilt, this mentorship will address the intersection between clinical and research psychology and focus on the exciting and complex work that happens in the field of research science. Clinical psychologists are focused on causes, treatments, and prevention of different types of disorders. Clinical psychologists who are involved in research science ask questions like — How do we learn about the way people think, feel, and behave? How can psychopathology be studied in an ethical way? What approaches are used for disseminating research findings, and how are findings utilized in clinical settings?

The mentorship will provide a base of content knowledge crucial to the field, so that you can begin the process of designing and developing your own research project. Throughout this mentorship you can expect advanced lectures, labs, extensive study, an introduction to clinical resources used in the field, and guest lectures from fellow clinicians and research scientists. Coupled with this content knowledge will be discussions on research design methods. How do you design a study? What are ethical practices for involving people? What is a good question? How do you get approval to conduct a study? How do you analyze and interpret data? Ultimately, you will use your research science understanding to create an independent project (with input from your mentor) as you synthesize literature in the field about a current clinical psychology question. The possibilities for your own project are endless and could be related to a specific psychopathology, social-connectedness in the time of COVID, the gut-brain connection, or another area of inquiry based on your interests. You will develop a researchable question, propose sound methods to address this question, and begin the exciting process of finding answers to your questions! This mentorship is designed to challenge you to see the world the way a clinical research scientist does—pushing to explore your interests in both a creative and empirically meaningful way. As research projects are a part of every academic discipline, the skills learned in this mentorship will prepare for you for success in college level courses while still in high school. Come ready to explore the diverse field of clinical psychology and research science.

Anthropology in Action: How Research Is Applied to Advocacy and Activism
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 to 7:00 PM CST
Instructor: Emma Banks, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Anthropologists study human relationships and worldviews, giving us a unique vantage point from which to understand some of the world’s biggest problems. From medicine to law to international relations, anthropologists’ work crosses a variety of other disciplines. Skilled anthropologists understand that they can put their training and discoveries to work as activists and advocates. However, in these applied settings, anthropologists may confront major ethical dilemmas about their objectivity as researchers and their own power over research subjects. In this mentorship, we will explore instances where anthropologists have created both harm and benefits through their advocacy and activism work, and we will learn from these past examples to create our own research approaches. We will learn the skillsets that allow us to use an anthropological process to explore social problems while developing our own set of ethical principles to govern the approach. By applying big questions to specific case studies, we will develop your analytical and problem-solving skills, which will serve you whether you want to use these key anthropology skills in a variety of professions from lawyer to journalist to policy analyst to doctor. We learn different approaches anthropologists use to develop, conduct, and present a research project so that you are prepared for a final project where you select a pressing social problem of your choice (e.g. US race relations, immigration, gender discrimination, poverty, or climate change) to study under the guidance of your mentor. You will apply an anthropology approach to studying this social issue using both primary and secondary sources. You will also apply your research to action by developing a plan for how you might apply your discoveries to advocacy.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Biomedical Engineering Approaches to Cancer
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Jenna Mosier | View Instructor Bio

What drives cancer progression? What makes cancer cells different from their normal, healthy counterparts? And how do we go about understanding and treating a disease that is so complex and patient-specific? Biomedical engineering research provides a means to answer these questions by using engineering principles to develop technology and build platforms based on cancer biology. The first part of this mentorship experience will guide you through the basic research principles used to explore and understand cancer cell behavior and tumor progression, highlighting the tools researchers use in the lab such as cell culture, microscopy, molecular biology, and microfabrication. Once a foundation in research techniques has been established, we will focus on key engineered models that have been developed and are currently utilized to probe the heterogeneous and complex nature of cancer and metastasis, including in vitro platforms like 3D collagen gels, cell migration assays, and microchannels, and in vivo models to probe tumor formation and progression in real time. Current cancer researchers will join us to share their approach to solving problems and engage in conversation about their experiences and journey through research, industry, and academia. We will also dive into scientific literature to review fundamental and influential techniques in the field and explore groundbreaking, pivotal research currently being conducted in labs across the globe. Finally, you will, in your final project, get the opportunity to become the engineer and apply your knowledge of different cancer research methodologies, platforms, and models to current challenges researchers face today.

Contemporary Trial Law: From Primary Research to Courtroom Presentation
Meeting Time: Wednesday, 4:00PM-6:00PM CST; Saturday, 9:00AM-11:00AM CST
Instructor: Alyssa Baskam | View Instructor Bio

If you want to be a good trial lawyer, you must [to steal a phrase] be like a duck – calm on the surface but paddling like crazy underneath. In this mentorship, you will begin to develop an emerging legal fluency through surveying the historical development and evolution of trial law in the United States. With this foundation, you will examine contemporary methodologies and strategies to analyze the trial process from technical requirements to the performative elements. As a mentorship group, we will critically engage powerful arguments made by seasoned, successful lawyers, and reflect together on why their arguments were persuasive. We’ll explore the examination of witnesses, the importance of composure and clarity, and how to establish credibility in front of an audience of strangers. In your final project that will be developed throughout the mentorship, you will, in teams, take on the role of trial lawyer to plan and prepare opening arguments, direct examinations, cross examinations, and closing arguments. In the development of this project, you will begin to learn how to think, act and perform like a trial lawyer from both prominent historical examples and successful guest speakers. Be ready to “paddle like crazy!”

Moral Leadership: Bridging Difference, Building Trust in Uncertain Times
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Laine Walters Young | View Instructor Bio

How is ethical identity related to leadership capacity? Should morality be an integral part of leadership style? Can moral leadership be learned and leveraged towards the greater good? In this class for aspiring change-makers, you will reflect upon the relational, interpersonal, and visionary aspects of leadership, and discuss case studies of moral leadership (and missing the mark) across professional disciplines including discussions regarding combatting the immorality of disinformation in the public sphere and on social media, conflict amongst people over various definitions of justice, and how to shape communication and conversation toward better understanding of complex moral issues. As future custodians of central social institutions or agitators of social change, you will be challenged to critically reflect upon and examine the world as it is while at the same time beginning to craft a vision of how you believe the world should be. As you continue to refine your emerging vision for the future throughout the course, you will also work to theoretically and practically develop your own moral leadership compass. Drawing both on your own personal goals, aspirations, and moral concern, as well as on scholarly research in psychology, ethics, and leadership studies, you will design a proposal that argues for specific and well-researched “glocal (global/local),” tangible action on pressing social issues.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Work: Investigating When Pancreatic Physiology Goes Wrong
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Tiffany Richardson | View Instructor Bio

Did you know that someone is diagnosed with diabetes every 21 seconds? Diabetes occurs when a person has inappropriately high blood sugar levels. Because these levels are controlled by hormones secreted from pancreatic cell clusters, researchers focused on curing diabetes spend time investigating pancreatic physiology. This mentorship, led by a Vanderbilt Biomedical Ph.D. candidate who studies pancreas biology and diabetes, will introduce you to the foundational concepts in pancreatic physiology, metabolism, and endocrine hormones in order to showcase how these concepts are investigated in diabetes research. With this foundation, we will critically consider what happens when these processes go awry during diabetes and obesity. Throughout the course, you will work towards an understanding of the biology of diabetes and obesity while also learning about the toll these conditions take on one’s life in both the short and long term. As part of the mentorship, you will participate in a variety of experiences from developing and presenting a public service announcement (PSA) that is intended to inform and alert your localities about diabetes and obesity to participating in scholarly research by analyzing data from this field, drawing scientific conclusions, and presenting findings. Through these experiences, this mentorship introduces students to the field of physiology through the lens of diabetes research.

Recommended pre-requisites for class: One-year of introductory cell biology and one year of anatomy; additional science courses are helpful but optional.

Nanotechnology in Cancer: Small Solutions to Big Problems
Meeting Time: Mondays and Tuesdays, 5:00 to 7:00 PM CST
Instructor: María López Cavestany | View Instructor Bio

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and with our increasing lifespan, the incidence is only getting higher. While medicine has developed very promising chemotherapies and radiation treatments, these can have harmful side effects and be detrimental to patients in the long term. So, what if science came up with a solution to get all the positive effects of current treatments straight to the tumor site without causing harm to the rest of the body? This is where nanotechnology comes into play! In the first half of this class, we will be discussing what makes cancer “cancer”. How are doctors able to diagnose and treat it? What are the most prevalent cancer types and how have each of them led to important turning points in medical history? Later in the course, we will switch gears and dive deep into nano-biomaterials! We will analyze scientific papers about current cutting-edge nanoparticles and devices and we will learn how these are currently being used to improve diagnosis and treatment methods for cancer. We will ask questions like, how are nanomaterials made? How can you see them? How do they interact with the human body? And, most importantly, how are they helping us better understand cancer as a disease? Throughout this mentorship, you will critically engage current scientific literature as well as learn the process of how a device/drug goes from a lab benchtop to the clinic as we acquire the content and skills needed to complete a final project that directly relates to the work experts do in this field.

Required Prerequisite: At least one year of college level or AP Biology.
Recommended Perquisite: One year of Chemistry.

From Lab to Life: How Psychology Research Connects to our Development as People
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 to 7:00 PM CST
Instructor: Zachary Stuckelman | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship is focused on introducing you to the field of Social Science research, specifically through the lens of Developmental Psychology and Child Development. Developmental psychology researchers investigate all things human behavior – from the simple motor reactions we have as infants to how we learn second languages as both children and adults to the impact of emotions on our performance in school or work. This mentorship will introduce you to how psychologists study human development and what the field of developmental psychology has helped us learn about ourselves and others. We will start the mentorship by introducing a variety of theories concerning how we develop our psychology (i.e. our emotions, our personalities, our preferences, etc.). We will then map various research methods involved in studying development, and how they apply beyond the research lab context to our lives. We also will evaluate various statistical methods to understand how we transfer raw data in the social sciences to actual analyzable results. After a foundation in developmental psychology research and methods, you will develop your own research study based on development psychology questions we ask throughout the class. Through your own data collection and analysis, you will learn the ways in which psychology research can be used to explain our changes throughout life and the role context plays in our development. We will learn how discoveries in this field can impact our everyday life. If you are interested in child development, cognitive development, child studies, development psychology, and the practical implications of research on education, this mentorship is for you.

Rhetorical Advocacy and Criticism
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:00 to 6:00 PM CST
Instructor: John Koch | View Instructor Bio

Words have power. They can influence attitudes, behaviors, and responses. When thoughtfully done, they can be used to unite and to create change. Through the analysis of historical speeches and other texts we will explore how to apply rhetorical criticism and how to improve our own arguments and speeches to influence political, economic, and social change. We will determine the rhetorical techniques that politicians and other agents of change have employed to craft powerful messages. In this mentorship you will engage in designing college-level paper and speech projects. In doing so, you will become a more involved and informed citizen, a better public speaker, and a critical consumer of information. Under the guidance of a Vanderbilt professor who studies rhetoric and debate, you will learn how to think critically, argue effectively, and mobilize support for the issues that matter to you. If you are interested in communications, law, public policy, or politics, then Rhetorical Advocacy and Criticism is the mentorship for you.

Note: This class will involve scholarly consideration of politics and the public sphere. Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Intergroup Dialogue and Interaction across Identity and Ideological Difference: A Path towards Civility
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 5:00 to 7:00 PM CST
Instructor: Jermaine Soto | View Instructor Bio

As we move forward in our academic and career paths, we will interact with others who may have different identities and ideologies. How we navigate these interactions will determine our success as students, scholars and leaders in an increasingly diverse society. This course will explore the tenets of Intergroup Dialogue, a framework for engaging in and leading conversations with the goal of shared understanding and relationship building. Students will explore how intentional and critical dialogic approaches across identity and ideological difference can strengthen civility and increase our leadership capacities within our schools and eventually the career paths we choose. Specific topics addressed will vary based on student interest and are likely to include contemporary issues in education impacting the student experience; diversity and inclusion efforts within society; and the obstacles to unity and civility within politics. Students will learn the foundations of Intergroup Dialogue, strategies and applications within their schools and future academic and career paths, and how to incorporate this dialogue into their leadership framework. Students will also gain the skills and tools to successfully facilitate dialogues on hot topics impacting society. The mentorship will conclude with you applying the dialogic lens as you design an in-depth research project on a current social issue/or an action plan for developing an intergroup dialogue program within your community or school.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Genetic Epidemiology: Introduction and Application of Health-Related Genetic Information
Meeting Time: Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 PM CST; Saturdays from 10:00 to 12:00 PM CST
Instructor: Brittany Hollister | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship experience is centered on the fast-paced field of genetic epidemiology. A genome is the complete set of DNA which contains the information needed for an organism to function. Genetic epidemiology is a field of biology focused on understanding how differences in DNA (genetic variation) among humans can influence disease risk in communities. In this mentorship experience, students will begin with the fundamental principles of genetic epidemiology and focus in on applying these principles to the challenges currently facing the field. We will discuss how to succeed in the field of genetic epidemiology as well as set goals for our experience. Throughout the mentorship, we will hear from current geneticists who are working in different subfields as guest speakers. The first section of the mentorship will cover fundamental principles of human genetics as well as biostatistics, both of which are needed in genetic epidemiology. You will then be immersed in the field as you explore how to conduct analyses of genetic data by completing labs and learning programming in an analysis software used by researchers across many scientific areas. Furthermore, you will consider how genetic information can be applied and used to make decisions to improve human health. We will conclude the mentorship with the opportunity to design your own genetic analysis from existing data or design a proposed solution for addressing one of the field’s current challenges as an independent project.

The Genomics Revolution: Understanding and Utilizing Modern Genome Sequencing Technology
Meeting Time: Tuesdays from 7:00 to 9:00 PM CST; Saturdays from 12:00 to 2:00 PM CST
Instructor: Alex Munden | View Instructor Bio

The human genome is comprised of 3.2 billion base pairs of DNA organized into 23 distinct chromosomes. DNA forms the blueprint of body, and instructs every cell in your body how to make RNA and protein. Errors in the DNA sequence cause a number of diseases such as cancer, and are intensely researched by biomedical scientists. The first whole assembly of the human genome cost $500 million dollars and required 13 years to finish. In a modern research setting, your entire genome could be sequenced for around $1000 in a few weeks. How did such an enormous undertaking transform into such a routine but powerful experiment? In the first weeks of this mentorship, we will discuss the fundamentals of DNA biology and examine the history of the revolution in genomic science. Next, we will read and discuss seminal literature in genomics science and explore publicly available deposited genomic experiments. In the final part of the mentorship, students will choose to download and analyze genomic data related to a topic of their interest in conjunction with the mentor. Using this data, the mentorship will culminate in a mini-research proposal, with background, a hypothesis based on your findings, possible experiments you could perform, expected results, and broader impact on human disease.

Psychological Science Research: Solving the Human Puzzle
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructors: Nicolette Granata | View Instructor Bio and Zach Stuckelman | View Instructor Bio

If someone asked you to work on the world’s greatest, most perplexing puzzle for a living, would you say yes? Psychological science researchers have! What is this puzzle? Humans! Psychological researchers study how humans think, learn, feel, and why they act a certain way. If the human puzzle is intriguing to you, then you may be interested in studying psychology and becoming a psychological science researcher. This mini mentorship experience will allow you the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of researching within psychological science so that you have the knowledge to develop a research proposal in psychological science that interests YOU the most (cognitive, social, or developmental), while receiving a personalized mentorship to make your introduction to psychological research successful and impactful. The final project will be your own research proposal that reflects what psychological researchers are asked to do at the career-level. Together, we will learn how to view, interpret, and critique others’ research by studying existing scientific literature and studies. We will then use our budding understanding of psychological research to write research questions, form hypotheses, and design a novel study!

Rhetorical Advocacy and Criticism
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00 to 7:00 PM CST
Instructor: John Koch | View Instructor Bio

Do you want to be a better public speaker? Do you want to be able to analyze historical speeches and other texts? Do you want to be able to effectively research and organize arguments out of the massive amounts of information you are exposed to into something that makes sense? In this class, you will learn how to research, develop and organize arguments, adapt persuasive appeals to specific audiences, and, perhaps even change minds. We will analyze arguments as we learn basic rhetorical theories and apply them to historical speeches and other texts. Upon conclusion of the immersion experience you will apply your rhetorical analysis knowledge to create your own argument about something of interest to you. Be prepared to engage in discussions and critically analyze arguments and texts. Become a more involved and informed citizen, a better public speaker, and a critical consumer of information.

Note: This class will involve scholarly consideration of politics and the public sphere. Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Law and Economics: Microeconomic Theory’s Implications for the Law
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 6:00 to 9:00 PM CST
Instructors: Delaney Beck and Kyle Blasinsky | View Instructor Bios

Professor Bruce Ackerman of Yale Law School once described the economic approach to law as “the most important development in legal scholarship of the twentieth century.” Law and economics, the best collaboration since peanut butter and jelly, but what is it? Modern law and economics was born in the 1960’s to provide economic objectivity to analysis of mainstream legal issues. Such will be the focus of this mentorship. Together, we will explore the basics of microeconomics and its implications for laws and legal rules. We’ll answer important questions like: Do harsher sentencing laws deter crime? How liable should a producer be when their product causes another’s harm? Where do one party’s property rights end and someone else’s begin? Does it matter? With innumerable applications, students will be exposed to the main legal fields of focus in law and economics while being challenged to read and comprehend legal rules and empirical and theoretical analysis of such rules. This mentorship will push you to think in a more interdisciplinary way while considering the intended and not so intended consequences of the very laws we are asked to abide by every day.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data (or lack thereof) as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Astrophysics: Using Science and Math to Understand Galaxies
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 2:00 to 5:00 PM CST
Instructors: Erika Grundstrom, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio and Christina Davis | View Instructor Bio

Our Solar System is just one of billions within our Milky Way Galaxy. Our Milky Way Galaxy is just one of billions within the Universe. To immerse ourselves in an astrophysicist’s world, we will study the observational and the theoretical of galaxies in our Universe. In this mini mentorship, you will first learn the basics of galactic types and the component parts thereof (gas, dust, stars, supermassive black holes, dark matter, etc.) as well as some fundamental physics principles from a Vanderbilt professor who spends time researching and teaching astronomy. You will also learn how to read scholarly articles in this field. You will then be able to apply your new knowledge and further build on it as you learn how to utilize freely available observational data and some computer simulations (along with physics and math) to go deeper into scientific practice. By the end of this session, answering a research question that you design, you will be able to present your own work during a virtual poster session just like a researcher in the field.

Prerequisites: Algebra 1

Writing With Fire: An Introduction to Professional Writing, Reading, & Storytelling
Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00PM-7:00 PM CST
Instructor: Benjamin Schwartz | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship focuses on the evolving and immersive field of writing as art and profession. Together, we will explore and apply techniques and literary elements that make for engaging pieces of writing. We will do so by studying (and writing!) modes of literature such as poetry, memoir, persuasive nonfiction, genre fiction, oral performance, and more.The goals of this mentorship include providing students: (1) an enriched understanding of writing techniques, (2) an expanded library of authors and influences upon whom they can draw for ongoing inspiration in their work (3) a deeper understanding of self and voice, (4) a broader sense of the range of academic and career opportunities available to them as writers, and (5) opportunities to revise and polish their original work. Throughout our time together, we will ask questions around the opportunities and challenges of professional writing in the U.S.: How do writers represent the world ethically and responsibly? How might we understand language as social action? What opportunities and problematics do different modes of written and oral communication entail? How do we work collaboratively to enable our collective growth as critics, writers, and thinkers? Furthermore, we will discuss strategies for professionalizing one’s writing as we host guest speakers who speak to craft and provide mentees with insight and tips on the process of publication.This mentorship is designed to provide interested, emerging writers and storytellers with guidance in and appreciation for all facets of writing as a discipline. It is also designed to celebrate the joys of writing; writers can expect to be critically engaged in their work as they participate in the process of reading, reflecting, revising, and community-building. This is an introduction to writing as craft; therefore, you do not need to have prior knowledge or experience with poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, though you should be interested in the field. Good writers are also good readers, who can express and evaluate a text with a critical and creative eye. During this mentorship, you will read and engage with writers in your mentee-community, as well as with writers of the wider literary world.

Psychological Science Research: Solving the Human Puzzle
Meeting Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructors: Nicolette Granata | View Instructor Bio and Zach Stuckelman | View Instructor Bio

If someone asked you to work on the world’s greatest, most perplexing puzzle for a living, would you say yes? Psychological science researchers have! What is this puzzle? Humans! Psychological researchers study how humans think, learn, feel, and why they act a certain way. If the human puzzle is intriguing to you, then you may be interested in studying psychology and becoming a psychological science researcher. This mini mentorship experience will allow you the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of researching within psychological science so that you have the knowledge to develop a research proposal in psychological science that interests YOU the most (cognitive, social, or developmental), while receiving a personalized mentorship to make your introduction to psychological research successful and impactful. The final project will be your own research proposal that reflects what psychological researchers are asked to do at the career-level. Together, we will learn how to view, interpret, and critique others’ research by studying existing scientific literature and studies. We will then use our budding understanding of psychological research to write research questions, form hypotheses, and design a novel study!

Genetic Epidemiology: Introduction and Application of Health-Related Genetic Information
Meeting Time: Mondays and Thursdays, 5:30 to 8:30 PM CDT
Instructor: Brittany Hollister | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship experience is centered on the fast-paced field of genetic epidemiology. A genome is the complete set of DNA which contains the information needed for an organism to function. Genetic epidemiology is a field of biology focused on understanding how differences in DNA (genetic variation) among humans can influence disease risk in communities. In this mentorship experience, students will begin with the fundamental principles of genetic epidemiology and focus in on applying these principles to the challenges currently facing the field. We will discuss how to succeed in the field of genetic epidemiology as well as set goals for our experience. The first section of the mentorship will cover fundamental principles of human genetics as well as biostatistics, both of which are needed in genetic epidemiology. You will then be immersed in the field as you explore how to conduct analyses of genetic data by learning programming in an analysis software used by researchers across many scientific areas. Furthermore, you will consider how genetic information can be applied and used to make decisions to improve human health. We will conclude the mentorship with the opportunity to design your own genetic analysis as an independent project.

Brain-Body Interactions: From Health to Disease
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructors: Thao Le | View Instructor Bio

Ever wonder why we feel hungry, thirsty, relaxed, or stressed? In this mentorship, we will explore the many ways the brain and the rest of the body use chemical signals or hormones to communicate with each other to interpret and regulate these basic functions. Specifically, we will examine the brain regions, endocrine organs, and biological processes responsible for some of our common experiences such as hunger, fullness, cravings, and stress response. To do this, we will assess key studies and findings from the fields of neuroscience, physiology, and endocrinology to understand how each of these functions takes place as well as what happens when things go awry. Along the way, you will learn how to read scientific literature, develop your own research questions and hypotheses, design experiments to test them, and ultimately write and present your research proposals. Led by a senior Vanderbilt MD-PhD student, this mentorship will also give you a glimpse into the life of a physician scientist in training as well as the many career paths in medicine and biomedical research.

Writing With Fire: An Introduction to Professional Writing, Reading, & Storytelling
Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00PM-7:00 PM CST
Instructor: Benjamin Schwartz | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship focuses on the evolving and immersive field of writing as art and profession. Together, we will explore and apply techniques and literary elements that make for engaging pieces of writing. We will do so by studying (and writing!) modes of literature such as poetry, memoir, persuasive nonfiction, genre fiction, oral performance, and more.The goals of this mentorship include providing students: (1) an enriched understanding of writing techniques, (2) an expanded library of authors and influences upon whom they can draw for ongoing inspiration in their work (3) a deeper understanding of self and voice, (4) a broader sense of the range of academic and career opportunities available to them as writers, and (5) opportunities to revise and polish their original work. Throughout our time together, we will ask questions around the opportunities and challenges of professional writing in the U.S.: How do writers represent the world ethically and responsibly? How might we understand language as social action? What opportunities and problematics do different modes of written and oral communication entail? How do we work collaboratively to enable our collective growth as critics, writers, and thinkers? Furthermore, we will discuss strategies for professionalizing one’s writing as we host guest speakers who speak to craft and provide mentees with insight and tips on the process of publication.This mentorship is designed to provide interested, emerging writers and storytellers with guidance in and appreciation for all facets of writing as a discipline. It is also designed to celebrate the joys of writing; writers can expect to be critically engaged in their work as they participate in the process of reading, reflecting, revising, and community-building. This is an introduction to writing as craft; therefore, you do not need to have prior knowledge or experience with poetry, fiction, or nonfiction, though you should be interested in the field. Good writers are also good readers, who can express and evaluate a text with a critical and creative eye. During this mentorship, you will read and engage with writers in your mentee-community, as well as with writers of the wider literary world.

Creating Change: Using Grassroots Community Development to Solve Problems
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 5:30 to 7:30 PM CST
Instructor: Kelley-Frances Fenelon | View Instructor Bio

How do you create sustainable change? How do you re-shape toxic systems and end injustice? And even more pressing, how do you do this work when it seems as if everyone around you feels powerless to create change? This mentorship begins with the premise that everyone is powerful and every voice is needed to create sustainable change. Through this mentorship, we will explore three methods of creating change: Asset-based Community Development, Community Organizing, and Social Entrepreneurship. Through these three change-making strategies, we will look at ways that change can happen at the neighborhood level and at the national level. We will also explore case studies of ways neighborhoods have been reshaped through residents coming together to create the change they need. We will also spend time looking at social entrepreneurship (and more specifically, B-corps) as a way to create income that serves the greater good. In this mentorship, as a final product, participants will form their own simulated? B-corp using the principles of design theory coupled with their own ideas for creating change in their community. This mentorship is a perfect fit for anyone interested in politics, government, law, business, nonprofits, faith-based work, social enterprise, city planning, or any field that works closely with the community around them.

Data Science Intensive: Using AI to Solve Real-World Problems
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 5:30 to 7:30 PM CST
Instructors: Jesse Spencer-Smith, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio and Charreau Bell, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

Have you ever had to make a decision about the future, and even with lots of prior experience and knowledge, it was still difficult to make the decision? Have you ever thought about all the data in your smart watches or phones and wanted to glean insights or simplify your life using that data? As data scientists, we work to solve a variety of real-world problems like these to predict future events, extract insights from vast amounts of data, and automate, clarify, simplify, and optimize decision-making processes. In this mentorship opportunity, you’ll learn about the landscape of data science and application areas from a data scientist at Vanderbilt’s Data Science Institute (DSI). You’ll attend a number of hands-on workshops from data scientists to develop your skill set in using industry-standard tools in data science. Building on your previous experience in programming, you’ll learn to use data science packages in R or Python, and best practices in coding for clarity, reproducibility, visualization, and collaboration. You’ll learn about version control of your code, models, and data using repositories, and also learn how to use GitHub tools to organize your work and collaborate with others. Then, you’ll learn the basics of machine learning and deep learning to train, evaluate, and test models; we’ll also delve into the ethical implications of models and how to make sure you generate fair ones. Your final project will combine these skills on a real data science project with the DSI. Throughout your immersion, your mentor will share with you their pathway to data science and their experiences, and what they’ve learned throughout their career – both technically and non-technically. Each week, you’ll meet with your mentor who will guide you through using data science tools, share completed and ongoing data science projects, and answer any questions you might have about becoming a data scientist.

Prerequisite: Students must have completed at least one semester of computer programming by January 2021. Please contact pty.peabody@vanderbilt.edu if you would like to know how to indicate computer programming knowledge through experiences not reflected on a school transcript. These will be considered on a case by case basis.

Environmental Engineering: Sustainability from the Sun to the Sea
Meeting Time: Saturdays, 10:00AM to 12:00PM CST
Instructor: Kofi Christie, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

The engineered systems around us are closely linked to the Earth’s natural environment. This mentorship is centered around the scientific principles and ideas that environmental engineers use to provide clean water, minimize pollution, and improve the environment. We’ll start with the basics, then we’ll grow to learn that the most pressing environmental challenges provide some of the most interesting opportunities for innovation. What if our nation’s industries could mine wastewater from industrial processes for valuable elements and compounds? What if coastal communities could desalinate ocean water at a cost and energy use comparable to other traditional water sources? What if our domestic energy industries could treat and reuse produced water for further oil and gas production as well as for other uses? What if our power producers could remove contaminants from power plant wastewater and encapsulate them in a nonhazardous solid form? What if, rather than use fresh water once and then throw it away we could use it again and again and again? These questions will be discussed along the way as we assess the current state of affairs and consider rational paths toward a sustainable future. We will conclude the mentorship with the opportunity to design your own engineered systems using combined fundamental principles to address air pollution, waste disposal, recycling, global warming, water pollution and other environmental issues.

Exploring the Mind: The Science of Psychology
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Caoimhe Harrington Stack, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship is focused on introducing you to the field of Cognitive Psychology. Psychological researchers scientifically investigate all aspects of human cognition – memory, language, decision-making, and more! Cognitive science focues a lot on the brain and often involves work with neuroscience. The goal of this mentorship will be to help you understand how cognitive psychologists frame questions about human behavior and learning and then ultimately answer them. We will begin by discussing what is involved in becoming a researcher and what life as a researcher looks like. To get you thinking like a cognitive psychologist, we will move into exploring how the scientific method is used to answer questions about the mind. Here, we’ll focus on key psychological research methods, and also gain an understanding of how to use basic statistics to analyze findings. Along the way, we will explore key findings from psychology, taking a look at what researchers have already discovered about our minds. While doing this, we’ll engage in critiquing research, learning how to question data we are presented with and suggest improvements to current research. The ultimate goal of this mentorship will be for you to ask your own psychological question, and then design a research project to answer it. Through your own data collection and analysis, you will get a true glimpse into how the world of research works in the field of psychology!

From Lab to Press Conference: How to Think, Write and Communicate as a Scientist
Meeting Time: Saturdays, 1:00 to 3:00 PM CST
Instructor: Loren LaPointe, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

2020 has taught us that clearly communicating scientific research and policies in the public sphere is a challenging but critical task. This mentorship, lead by a scientist with a Ph.D in Biochemistry who now works in a government position focused on science communication and policy, is designed for the scientifically curious student who may be interested in a career outside of a laboratory or medical setting. Though many science based careers still begin with a traditional undergraduate curriculum with lecture and lab coursework followed by some type of post-baccalaureate study in the form of a Master’s degree, MD, or a PhD, pursuing a career in science no longer means following only one predetermined route. This mentorship begins with the foundational belief that everyone, no matter what academic path they choose to take, should be scientifically literate. Through this mentorship, you will carefully consider diverse ways science influences American society and then develop critical skills that will lead you in your own journey towards becoming a science communicator. Mentorship content will draw more from the critical thinking skills that are required to be a scientist than actual scientific content – skills which are useful in any and all careers. While topics in this course will at times be led by student interest, we will consider such questions as “How does science influence American society?,” “How well is science communicated in US and international media?” and “How can you differentiate between good and bad scientific research studies?” At the conclusion of the course, you will develop and present your own project that will contribute to the timely and important scholarly conversation concerning scientific communication.

Preferred pre-requisites: One year introductory biology; One year introductory chemistry; U.S. government or civics course helpful, but optional; Additional science courses are helpful, but optional.

Genetic Epidemiology: Introduction and Application of Health-Related Genetic Information
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 5:30 to 7:30 PM CST
Instructor: Brittany Hollister, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship experience is centered on the fast-paced field of genetic epidemiology. A genome is the complete set of DNA which contains the information needed for an organism to function. Genetic epidemiology is a field of biology focused on understanding how differences in DNA (genetic variation) among humans can influence disease risk in communities. In this mentorship experience, students will begin with the fundamental principles of genetic epidemiology and focus in on applying these principles to the challenges currently facing the field. We will discuss how to succeed in the field of genetic epidemiology as well as set goals for our experience. Throughout the mentorship, we will hear from current geneticists who are working in different subfields as guest speakers. The first section of the mentorship will cover fundamental principles of human genetics as well as biostatistics, both of which are needed in genetic epidemiology. You will then be immersed in the field as you explore how to conduct analyses of genetic data by completing labs and learning programming in an analysis software used by researchers across many scientific areas. Furthermore, you will consider how genetic information can be applied and used to make decisions to improve human health. We will conclude the mentorship with the opportunity to design your own genetic analysis from existing data or design a proposed solution for addressing one of the field’s current challenges as an independent project.

Genomics: The Next Generation of Biology Research
Meeting Time: Sundays, 1:00 to 3:00 PM CST
Instructors: Andrea (Andy) Perreault, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio; Katie Reed, Ph.D. Candidate | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship is focused on the field of biomedical research called genomics. Genomics is the study of the whole genomes of organisms and leverages DNA sequencing methods and bioinformatics to sequence, assemble, and analyze the structure and function of genomes. Genomics takes classical genetics to a new level by considering an organism’s full hereditary material, rather than one gene at a time. Led by a postdoctoral fellow with her PhD in Chemical and Physical Biology from Vanderbilt Univeristy, you will take a deep dive into how researchers are using genomics to study the structure and function of DNA and how this can be applied to understanding diseases as well as discovering new treatments for diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease, HIV, and cancer. As a foundation for genomics, you will work through an introduction to molecular biology, genetics, and bioinformatics at the start of the mentorship. This mentorship will give you a base of content knowledge crucial to genomics research, so that you can then continue to expand your knowledge and develop your problem solving and critical thinking skills with weekly literature review sessions and discussion. You can also expect advanced lectures and conversations with faculty, postdocs, grad students, and professionals from universities and industry, who will serve as guest speakers. Ultimately, you will use your evolving understanding of genomics to develop an independent research proposal. This proposal will stem from a question you have about the current state of genomics research and encompass a literature review, a hypothesis, and scientific method process to address this hypothesis. The mentorship is designed to challenge you to see the world the way an interdisciplinary biomedical researcher does—how using skills from across disciplines to study an organisms’ DNA might address some of the world’s biggest diseases.

Prerequisite: Students must have completed at least one semester of Biology by January 2020, preferably molecular biology or genetics. An interest in computer science is also suggested.

The Leadership Institute: A Journey towards Innovative, Principled and Insightful Leadership
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Katie Minyard, MBA | View Instructor Bio

Instead of beginning with what leadership is, this mentorship intentionally starts with what leadership does: Leadership translates vision into reality. In today’s world of growing complexity, it is essential to not only have knowledge, but to have the imagination to anticipate, adapt to and initiate change. In this mentorship opportunity, your cohort will be challenged and will challenge one another to become innovative, principled, and insightful leaders who seek to positively change the world. In order to begin that rigorous journey, you will first explore major frameworks of leadership through analyzing primary research articles and key academic works in order to “map” the field of leadership theory. With this guiding knowledge, you will collaborate with peers and industry experts in analyzing and evaluating real world case studies of leadership “successes” and “failures” in the corporations, nonprofits and government. After developing a foundational leadership toolkit and working towards developing fluency in the scholarly vocabulary of the field, you will turn your attention to your final project of developing your own robust theory of leadership. You will propose this theory and it’s application through a research and reflection paper that will become the foundation for a formal presentation ready for C-suite executives! By the end of this mentorship, you will have a well-developed, carefully articulated, and peer-vetted understanding of leadership that you can put to the test in your current and future leadership roles.

Legal Reasoning and the American Legal System
Meeting Time: Saturdays, 12:00 to 2:00 PM CST
Instructor: Zachary Richards, JD | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship is focused on the law and legal profession. Legal reasoning refers to the methods that various players in the legal profession—judges, attorneys, regulators, and politicians—use to apply law and fact to resolve legal questions. These parties all play different roles writing, interpreting and enforcing the laws, and in this mentorship, we will learn about these various roles and how they relate and interact in the American legal system. We will discuss various substantive areas of the law, including procedural and substantive protections in the Constitution, as well as Torts, Contracts, and other doctrinal areas that every first-year law student studies. Led by an attorney who has practiced in a major American law firm, clerked for a federal judge, and gained experience in both the United States House of Representatives and Senate, students can expect to gain a wide exposure to “how the system works.” This mentorship will also give students the opportunity to select a topic of interest to research and produce work product with the direction of the mentor. The topics for these projects are up to the student, and could range from issues relating to food regulation, to the merits and problems of eminent domain, to the constitutionality of speech laws. Regardless of topic, students will be challenged to read difficult legal materials, extract information, and make focused arguments for their positions.This mentorship is designed to challenge you to think like a lawyer while introducing you to legal doctrine and the structure of the American legal system.

Moral Leadership: Bridging Difference, Building Trust in Uncertain Times
Meeting Time: Sundays, 1:00 to 3:00 PM CST
Instructor: Laine Walters Young, Ph.D. | View Instructor Bio

How is ethical identity related to leadership capacity? Should morality be an integral part of leadership style? Can moral leadership be learned and leveraged towards the greater good? In this class for aspiring change-makers, you will reflect upon the relational, interpersonal, and visionary aspects of leadership, and discuss case studies of moral leadership (and missing the mark) across professional disciplines. As future custodians of central social institutions or agitators of social change, you will be challenged to critically reflect upon and examine the world as it is while at the same time beginning to craft a vision of how you believe the world should be. As you continue to refine your emerging vision for the future throughout the course, you will also work to theoretically and practically develop your own moral leadership compass. Drawing both on your own personal goals, aspirations, and moral concern, as well as on scholarly research in psychology, ethics, and leadership studies, you will design a  proposal that argues for specific and well-researched “glocal (global/local),” tangible action on pressing social issues.

Studies in Clinical Psychology: Principles and Applications of Research Science
Meeting Time: Sundays, 2:00 to 4:00 PM CST
Instructor: Pietra Bruni, Doctoral Candidate | View Instructor Bio

Led by a clinical psychology graduate student at Vanderbilt, this mentorship will address the intersection between clinical and research psychology and focus on the exciting and complex work that happens in the field of research science. Clinical psychologists are focused on causes, treatments, and prevention of different types of disorders. Clinical psychologists who are involved in research science ask questions like — How do we learn about the way people think, feel, and behave? How can psychopathology be studied in an ethical way? What approaches are used for disseminating research findings, and how are findings utilized in clinical settings? Come ready to explore the diverse field of clinical research science.

To begin to understand how research questions are operationalized in clinical work, you will need an introduction to study design. This introduction will include a deep dive into creating research protocols, selecting suitable stimuli, appropriately navigating the informed consent process, and submitting approval for research to the Institutional Review Board. The mentorship will provide a base of content knowledge crucial to the field, so that you can begin the process of designing and developing your own research project. You can also expect advanced lectures, labs, extensive study, an introduction to the DSM-5, and guest lectures from fellow clinicians and research scientists. Ultimately, you will use your research science understanding to do an independent project (with input from your mentor) as your synthesize literature in the field about a current clinical psychology question. The possibilities are endless—this could be related to a specific psychopathology, social-connectedness in the time of COVID, the gut-brain connection, or another relevant query. You will develop a researchable question, propose sound methods to address this question, and begin the exciting process of finding answers! This mentorship is designed to challenge you to see the world the way a clinical research scientist does—pushing to explore your interests in both a creative and empirically meaningful way. In this class, you will learn how to design, conduct and polish a university level research project. As research projects are a part of every academic discipline, the skills learned in this mentorship will prepare for you for success in college level courses while still in high school.

The Writer’s Notebook: Craft and Creation of Poetry, Fiction, & Creative Nonfiction
Meeting Time: Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00 PM CST
Instructor: Carlina Duan, MFA | View Instructor Bio

This mentorship focuses on the evolving and immersive field of creative writing. Together, we will explore and apply craft techniques and literary elements that make for engaging pieces of writing. We will do so by studying (and writing!) literary genres such as: documentary writing, flash fiction, poetry of witness, golden shovels, ghazals, and more. Through close readings, discussion, and our own writing, mentees will emerge from this mentorship with: (1) a rich “toolkit” of creative writing craft techniques, (2) an understanding and participation in the contemporary literary arts scene, and (3) their own revised and polished original work — to be published and presented in a culminating creative anthology. Throughout our time together, we will ask questions around the powers and challenges of creative writing in the U.S., such as: What does the “writer’s life” entail and look like? How do writers portray community ethically and responsibly? How might we understand language as social action? How does translation shape and form the ways we read and respond to literary texts? Furthermore, we will discuss strategies for publication – studying contemporary literary journals and presses, and hosting guest speakers — published writers and editors from across the U.S. — who will provide mentees with concrete resources and tips for publication.

This mentorship is designed to provide interested emerging writers with a guidance and appreciation for creative writing as a discipline. It’s also designed to celebrate the joys of creative writing; writers can expect to be critically engaged in their work, as well as participating in the delightful process of making, reading, reflecting, and community-building. This is an introduction to creative writing; therefore, you do not need to have prior knowledge or experience with poetry, fiction, or nonfiction – though you should, first and foremost, be interested in the field. Good writers are also good readers, who can express and evaluate a poem with a critical and creative eye. During this mentorship, you will read and engage with writers in your mentee-community, as well as with writers of the wider literary world.