# Constructing a Community of Teen Health Science Leaders (THSL)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2023 · $264,599

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP) at the University of California, San
Francisco (UCSF) proposes Constructing a Community of Teen Health Science Leaders
(THSL). THSL is designed as a leadership opportunity that offers a roadmap for its teen
participants to recognize themselves as “science leaders.” The teen participants, from
backgrounds underrepresented in the sciences, will work closely with UCSF faculty to
understand the NIH-funded research that informs teen health recommendations. Through these
collaborations, the students will identify health issues that impact their community and plan how
to share this information at a one-day Health Summit for their peers. Design of the Health
Summit (its speakers, session styles, and interactive activities) will be informed by participants’
knowledge of their community and how best to inspire engagement among their peers. The
Health Summit will also give these students the opportunity to be recognized as science leaders
among their peers. We believe that this leadership opportunity will engender a sense of
belonging in science that will encourage the student participants to ultimately pursue STEM
careers. The specific aims for this project are to: 1) Develop a community of Teen Health
Science Leaders; 2) Support Teen Leaders as they organize and lead the annual Teen Health
Summit; 3) In collaboration with learning researchers, develop a validated instrument to
measure “Belonging in Science,” and test the impact of THSL on students’ sense of belonging;
and, 4) Publish the results of the learning research in peer-reviewed journals to inform and
advance the science education community’s understanding of student belonging in science.
In order to study the program’s impact on belonging in science, THSL incorporates two levels of
engagement among the Teen Leaders. Over the life of the project, 80 students will serve as
Junior Leaders, with 15 of these students selected to rejoin the program in subsequent years as
Senior Leaders. The Belonging in Science survey instrument will compare the responses of all
THSL Teen Leaders to the control group of Health Summit student attendees (600 over the life
of the grant). Lessons on healthy behaviors from the Health Summit will be further amplified by
sharing teen-crafted health messaging via social media and by presenting interactive activities
from the Health Summit at the Bay Area Science Festival. Combined over the life of the grant,
we anticipate reaching more than 52,000 additional people with public health messaging
designed and facilitated by teens.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10692843
- **Project number:** 5R25GM137342-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine M Nielsen
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $264,599
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10692843

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10692843, Constructing a Community of Teen Health Science Leaders (THSL) (5R25GM137342-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10692843. Licensed CC0.

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