When her mother died of cancer four years ago, Elena De Jesus Hernandez made up her mind: She was going to go into medicine.
Already a top student at Hillsboro’s Liberty High School and selected as a Gates Millennium Scholar, in the summer of 2010, Elena took another step toward her future career: She participated, for the second year, in a research program at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. The Ted R. Lilley Cancer Continuing Umbrella of Research Education (CURE) Project gives students an opportunity to gain hands-on biomedical research experience.
Through CURE, Elena worked with researchers on cancer cells and why illness causes fatigue. Her mentor at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute was Daniel L. Marks, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Marks is a pediatric endocrinologist at OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and the Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute and is director of the Oregon Child Health Research Center.
September 02, 2010
Portland, Ore.