Fred Hutch turns 50!
Take a look back at half a century of leading-edge research and compassionate care.
For nearly a decade, Jeanne Ting Chowning, PhD, associate vice president of Fred Hutch Cancer Center’s Science Education Outreach (SciEd), has been an instrumental figure for mentorship and education at Fred Hutch. Her first day at Fred Hutch, however, started much earlier: Chowning got her start at Fred Hutch as a teacher participating in the Science Education Partnership (SEP).
Created in 1991 by scientist Nancy Hutchison and teacher Barb Schulz, SEP provides hands-on science education to local teachers along with science kits for their classrooms. In the 34 years that it's been around, it's partnered with over 600 teachers across Washington state.
Chowning returned to Fred Hutch in 2016, after Julie Overbaugh, PhD, and Nina Salama, PhD, senior vice presidents of the Education Department, created the Office of Education and Training (OET). Overbaugh holds the Endowed Chair for Graduate Education and Salama holds the Dr. Penny E. Petersen Memorial Chair for Lymphoma Research. The goal of OET was to create a permanent, official home for education. This work dates back to the very beginning of Fred Hutch, guided by leaders such as the late Beverly Torok-Storb, PhD.
Nearly a decade later, the OET houses educational and development programs for students, staff scientists and faculty. There are four broad categories: the Office of Graduate Education, the Office of Scientific Career Development, the Post-Bac Program, Faculty Development and Jeanne's team, Science Education.
Over the summer, Fred Hutch’s South Lake Union campus hosts hundreds of SciEd's teachers and pre-bachelors students. The team of 17 faculty and staff oversees more than a dozen programs each year, providing training and education for the next generation of scientists. Last year, their work supported 241 students, 16 teachers and hosted nearly 900 visitors for educational tours and events.
Earlier this year, Chowning received the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement's (OCOE) Staff Champion Award. The honor recognizes outstanding staff from the Fred Hutch/University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Cancer Consortium who have made extraordinary contributions to improving health access and community involvement.
“When I saw the [award] email I got a little bit teary-eyed,” Chowning said. “It's really been a team effort, and I was honored to accept that on behalf of my team.”
As a testament to Fred Hutch's decades-long, organization-wide commitment to learning, SciEd recently opened the new, leading-edge Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Learning Lab. The dedicated training environment is embedded within other research lab space on Fred Hutch’s South Lake Union campus. It was brought to life through a collaboration between Alexandria and the Philanthropy, SciEd, and Facilities teams at Fred Hutch, who worked together to design and build a lab specifically for young scientists.
For students, SciEd programs revolve around three things: education, access and community. Among the programs offering this trifecta are the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), Hutch Advance, Summer High-School Internship Program (SHIP) and Pathways Undergraduate Researchers (Pathways Undergrads).
SURP has been around as long as Fred Hutch itself. Each summer, SURP provides internships for undergraduate students in biomedical research. They conduct high-level research, workshop resumes and end with a poster presentation to their peers, family and Fred Hutch faculty.
SHIP takes students to the new Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Learning Labs and research groups under the mentorship of faculty and staff. Pathways Undergrads brings the same programming to first and second-year college students. The latter program was created in 2018 after SHIP interns expressed a desire to return to Fred Hutch.
Students aren’t only given hands-on experience in labs and clinical spaces, they learn the full scope of what it means to join an organization like Fred Hutch that is at the forefront of advancing research in cancer and infectious diseases.
Each of Hutch Advance's four programs for students bolsters awareness and access to the organization's many roles. Departments across Fred Hutch, like the Office of General Counsel, Marketing & Communications, Philanthropy, Facilities and Nutrition share their time with students each year.
“When it’s time for them to make a key decision about their career, we want to show [students] the many pathways they can take here, and how each of these roles are vital to our mission,” said Mary Grace Katusiime, PhD, program manager of the Hutch Advance initiative.
Across each of SciEd’s programs, participation is a key aspect. Each year, over 100 faculty, staff and providers all sign up to host students in labs or share what their jobs entail.
"We couldn't do this without the support of faculty and staff," said Dave Vannier, PhD, program director of SHIP and Pathways Undergrad.
Beyond staff, community members volunteer to coordinate team-building events, workshop resumes and personal statements and judge poster contests.
According to SURP Co-Director Marilyn Drennan, these roles go fast.
“It's really incredible to see the rate at which these volunteer positions get taken up. I'm really grateful to the Fred Hutch community for that,” she said.
Regardless of where students end up in their studies or careers, SciEd's mentorship doesn't end when their programs do. Drennan recalled one former student with her eyes set on UW’s Medical Scientist Training Program (UW MSTP). She came back to Fred Hutch as a lab technician. During the student’s two-year tenure, faculty and staff helped with her applications and letters of recommendations. Upon being accepted into MSTP, the student sent a letter naming her immense gratitude for over 400 emails that staff and faculty had sent on her behalf.
After seven years with SURP, Drennan said stories like these are her favorite part of the program.
“Their follow up emails have the greatest impact on me. I’m proud to be a small part of their incredible success,” she said.
For SURP, formal tracking of student outcomes began in 2009. For the past 15 years, SURP has taught 380 interns. And since 2011, a total of 305 students have gone through SHIP and Pathways Undergraduate. With all three programs, both Vannier and Drennan report that outgoing students trend greatly to medical schools and public health fields.
"They 100% gain confidence, they become more competitive in their future endeavors. It's definitely a boost for them at the right time,” said Vannier.
Other than building confidence, some programs provide a direct career path. After completing Hutch Advance's LabLaunch program, students receive an Accelerated Lab Technician Training Certificate, and are promised a job interview if they finish coursework at a collaborating college. The program was developed with SciEd, the Washington Alliance for Better Schools and the Shoreline Community College Biotech Program.
“It was very important for us to bring teacher-expertise to the table,” explained Katusiime.
Due in large part to SciEd’s impactful mentoring, many participants come back to Fred Hutch, either as students or staff.
Six staff at Fred Hutch are former LabLaunch students. Two former interns from Pathways Undergrads are back this year in SURP. After the summer, some students come back for postbaccalaureate programs; some come back for full-time jobs.
“Our interns show up as their best selves, and their mentors recognize that,” said Katsuiime. “A lot of us don’t want them to leave.”
Shayla Ring is an integrated marketing and communications coordinator at Fred Hutch Cancer Center. With a background in political science and communications, her work aims to reduce disinformation and promote meaningful stories. Her previous roles have also been with mission-driven organizations across the Seattle area. Reach her at sring@fredhutch.org.
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Are you interested in reprinting or republishing this story? Be our guest! We want to help connect people with the information they need. We just ask that you link back to the original article, preserve the author’s byline and refrain from making edits that alter the original context. Questions? Email us at communications@fredhutch.org
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