About the Program
Students must attend a school within the Frederick, Carroll or Washington County
Public School Systems; Saint John’s Catholic Prep (Frederick, MD); Frederick Christian
Academy (Frederick, MD); Poolesville High School (Montgomery County, MD); Fairfield
High School (Fairfield, PA) or Jefferson County Public School System (West Virginia).
Students home schooled in the schools or counties participating in the SIP are eligible
also.
Scientific interns work full-time (40 hours per week) for eight consecutive weeks
during the summer (training period) and receive a stipend of approximately $3,400.
Students in the Internships in Support of Science/Research are not required to work
during the summer and, therefore, do not receive a stipend.
All interns work three hours per day during the school year as a student volunteer
(no stipend) and receive credit towards their diploma.
To be eligible for the SIP, a student must be at least 16 years of age and a junior
in high school (when applying), have an overall grade point average of 3.0 or greater,
and the candidate must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Dr. Werner H. Kirsten
Dr.
Werner H. Kirsten served as Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute
at Frederick (NCI-Frederick (formerly the NCI-FCRDC)) for four years until his sudden
death in December 1992. Prior to joining the NCI, Dr. Kirsten was Chairman of the
Department of Pathology at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Dr. Kirsten is best known for his discovery of one of the first known cancer-causing
viruses, the Kirsten sarcoma virus, while at the University of Chicago. Research
on cancer-causing viruses, including the Kirsten virus, led to the discovery of
human genes that play a role in causing cancer. In addition to his research at the
University of Chicago and his leadership at the NCI-Frederick, Dr. Kirsten also
served an as officer of the Association of Pathology and the Leukemia Society of
America.