General Information about HSTA

HSTA is a community based 9th -12th grade math and science program which encourages aspirations, opens doors, and empowers minority and under-represented students in rural communities.  The goal of HSTA is to increase the number of African-American and other under-represented high school students that pursue post-secondary education in the health sciences and to increase the number of health practitioners in the medically under-served communities of West Virginia.  Students are accepted according to the eligibility requirements prioritized as: African-American, Financially Disadvantaged (qualifies for or receives free or reduced lunch), First Generation College Student (parents never completed 4 year college), and Rural. Students are recruited in the last semester of the eighth grade and must have a GPA of at least 2.50. Students must be a United States citizen and a West Virginia resident.

Currently HSTA has a student population of 800 high school students in 26 WV counties.
The 2008-2009 student population is: 34% African-American, 39% Free or Reduced Lunch Eligible, 58% First Generation College, and 49% Rural. A GPA of 3.00 is required after the ninth grade. Attendance of 70% of all club meetings is required and clubs meet a total of 24 hours per semester. By high school graduation students must have attended at least two HSTA summer camps and have completed 75 hours of community service.  Students complete and present a yearly science project at the annual state Science Symposium.

HSTA is in 26 counties and has 78 clubs in 49 high schools.

The WV-INBRE program hopes to recruit from this pool of high-achieving HSTA graduates once they enter college.  By attending HSTA club meeting and other events, the WV-INBRE/HSTA coordinator  hopes to plant the seed of interest in biomedical research and educate these students about the opportunities of the program should they attend one of the partner institutions within the WV-INBRE network.  By having undergraduates who have participated in the INBRE program speak at some HSTA events, the HSTA students can ask questions about the research and the experience.

Research Internship for HSTA Graduates at PUIs
Application for Research Internship for HSTA Graduates at PUIs [ MS-Word | PDF ]

A newly-created program targets HSTA graduates to recruit them into WV-INBRE funded labs.  For the 2009-2010 academic year, the goal is to recruit 12 HSTA graduates into WV-INBRE funded labs during the academic year paying these students $10.00/hour for a maximum 20 hours/week for up to 35 weeks.  The following investigators are currently funded:

Investigator                                                  Institution
Dr. Yi Charlie Chen                                         Alderson-Broaddus College
Dr. Haitao Luo                                                Alderson-Broaddus College
Dr. Daniel Phillips                                           Bethany College
Dr. Tesfaye Belay                                           Bluefield State College
Dr. Darrell Crick                                              Concord University
Dr. Sarah Dodson (only summer 2010)          Fairmont State University
Dr. Michelle Herdman                                     University of Charleston
Dr. Shawn Jones                                             University of Charleston
Dr. Gagan Kaushal                                         University of Charleston
Dr. Rebecca Linger                                         University of Charleston
Dr. Dean Reardon                                           University of Charleston
Dr. Aladin Siddig                                             University of Charleston
Dr. Jarrett Aguilar                                           West Liberty University
Dr. Robert Kreisberg                                      West Liberty University
Dr. Gerald Hankins                                         West Virginia State University
Dr. Robert Harris                                            West Virginia State University
Dr. Luke Huggins                                           West Virginia Wesleyan College
Dr. Melanie Sal                                               West Virginia Wesleyan College
Dr. Timothy Troyer                                         West Virginia Wesleyan College
Dr. Robert Shurina                                          Wheeling Jesuit University