Students are immersed in their research projects under the guidance and mentorship of faculty members located at CHLA and/or USC. A rich educational program includes visit to centers of emerging sciences, social activities, interactions with faculty, trainees, and cancer survivors, and  a dynamic interactive curriculum of selected topics in oncology, career development, research skills, research communication, and responsible conduct of research. Students further enhance their skills through presenting a poster of their work and an oral presentation of their project to a faculty meeting at the end of the summer.

Students are encouraged to present their work at local, national, and international scientific conferences and to publish their project as a peer-reviewed scientific paper. Through follow-up, we have found that many SORFites developed successful medical careers that include cancer research and recent disciplines. 

Below are publications and presentations authored and co-authored by SORFites with their SORF mentors. Bold  is the SORFite and underlined is their mentor(s):

Full length, peer-reviewed papers from SORFites in recent years

SORF-based publications 2019-2024:

1. 1. Westerman CR, Davidson T, K W, Margol A, Cheung C. Immune checkpoint inhibitors and endocrinopathy in pediatric brain tumor patients. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab, 2024.
   2. Sandoval ZE, Schmidt RJ, Bhutada JS, Shillingford N, Zhou S. A Novel TEK::GAB2 Gene Fusion in Pediatric Angiosarcoma of Pelvic soft Tissue: A Case Report and Literature Review. Pediatr Dev Pathol, 2024. PMID: 39248342
   3. Ragoonanan D, Abdel-Azim H, Sharma A, Bhar S, McArthur J, Madden R, Rahrig A, Bajwa R, Wang J, Sun V, et al. Retrospective analysis of veno-occlusive disease/sinusoidal obstruction syndrome in paediatric patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation -a multicentre study. Lancet Reg Health Am, 2024. PMID: 38616918
   4. Kumar SS, Khandekar N, Dani K, Bhatt S, Duddalwar V, Dsouza A. A scoping review of population diversity in the common genomic aberrations of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Oncology, 2024.
   5. Kovach AE, Wengyn M, Vu MH, Doan A, Raca G, Bhojwani D. IKZF1(PLUS) alterations contribute to outcome disparities in Hispanic/Latino children with B-lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer, 2024. PMID: 38637852
   6. Hultquist H, Rodriguez A, Ferreira JE, Placek A, Miller KP, Wood BL, Bhojwani D, Kapoor N, Raca G, Gaynon P, et al. Development of second genetically distinct T-lymphoblastic leukemia in a pediatric patient. Pediatr Blood Cancer, 2024. PMID: 38736199
   7. Ha JH, Borzage MT, Vanstrum EB, Doyle EK, Upreti M, Tamrazi B, Nelson M, Bluml S, Johal MS, McComb JG, et al. Quantitative noninvasive measurement of cerebrospinal fluid flow in shunted hydrocephalus. J Neurosurg, 2024. PMID: 38564811
   8. Flyer BE, Vanstrum EB, Chapman N, Ha JH, Al-Husseini JK, Chu JK, McComb JG, Durham SR, Krieger MD, Chiarelli PA. Surgical management of pediatric spinal aneurysmal bone cysts: patient series. J Neurosurg Case Lessons, 2024. PMID: 38252929
   9. Vassantachart A, Olch A, Jones M, Marques C, Ronckers C, Constine L, Maduro J, de Boer C, Wong K. A comprehensive review of 30 years of pediatric clinical trial radiotherapy dose constraints. Pediatr Blood Cancer, 2023. PMID: 36880707
   10. Vanstrum EB, Choi JS, Bensoussan Y, Bassett AM, Crowson MG, Chiarelli PA. Machine learning analysis of physical activity data to classify postural dysfunction. Laryngoscope, 2023. PMID: 37083112
   11. Pinto N, Naranjo A, Ding X, Zhang FF, Hibbitts E, Kennedy R, Tibbetts R, Wong-Michalak S, Craig DW, Manojlovic Z, et al. Impact of genomic and clinical factors on outcome of children >/=18 months of age with Stage 3 Neuroblastoma with unfavorable histology and without MYCN amplification: A Children’s Oncology Group (COG) report. Clin Cancer Res, 2023. PMID: 36749880
   12. Oh A, Bhardwaj L, Cacciamani G, Desai MM, Duddalwar VA. Cost-effectiveness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for diagnosis and active surveillance of complex cystic renal lesions. Urol Pract, 2023. PMID: 36777990
   13. MacDonald M, Poei D, Leyba A, Diep R, Chennapan K, Leon C, Xia B, Nieva JJ, Hsu R. Real world prognostic utility of platelet lymphocyte ratio and nutritional status in first-line immunotherapy response in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Treat Res Commun, 2023. PMID: 37611343
   14. Gettleman BS, Padilla AN, Kumar S, Wren TAL, Miller J, Pawel BR, Tolo VT, Christ AB. Use of surgical adjuvants does not decrease recurrence of aneurysmal bone cysts in surgical intervention with pediatric patients. J Ped Orthopaed, 2023. PMID: 37815299
   15. Doan A, Huang HKT, Hadar AJ, Malvar J, Rushing T, Raca G, Kovach AE, Freyer DR, Parekh C, Stokke J, et al.Efficacy and safety of FLAG-IDA as front-line therapy in de novo paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia population. Br J Haematol, 2023. PMID: 37129267
   16. Diep R, MacDonald M, Cooper R, Grzegorczyk A, Rakocevic R, Chang CF, Uy A, Cowgill N, Nieva JJ. Biopsy method and needle size on success of next-generation sequencing in NSCLC: a brief report. JTO Clin Res Rep, 2023. PMID: 37090100
   17. Dani KA, Rich J, Kumar SS, Cen H, Duddalwar VA, D’souza A. Comprehensive systematic review of biomarkers in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: predictors, prognostics, and therapeutic monitoring. . Cancers (Basel), 2023. PMID: 37894301
   18. Chen SY, Mack SJ, Stein JE, Kelley-Quon LI, Kim ES. Intercostal nerve cryoablation is associated with reduced opioid use in pediatric oncology patients. J Surg Res, 2023. PMID: 36427448
   19. Chen SY, Lee WG, Laifman E, Mack SJ, Zhou S, Kim ES. A single center experience with bilateral Wilms tumor. Am Surg, 2023. PMID: 37208897
   20. Chen SY, Laifman E, Mack SJ, Zhou S, Stein JE, Kim ES. Epidural analgesia is associated with reduced inpatient opioid consumption and length of stay after Wilms tumor resection. J Surg Res, 2023. PMID: 37267703
   21. Chang CF, Diep R, MacDonald M, Rakocevic R, Nieva J. Response to Letter to the Editor Titled “Seize the Opportunity With Small Tissue Samples: The Tailor Teaches!”. JTO Clin Res Rep, 2023. PMID: 37547097
   22. Chang C-F, Diep R, MacDonald M, Rakocevic R, Nieva J. Seize the opportunity with small tissue samples: The tailor teaches! JTO Clin Res Rep, 2023.
   23. Cen HS, Dandamudi S, Lei X, Weight C, Desai M, Gill I, Duddalwar V. Diversity in renal mass data cohorts: implications for urology AI researchers. Oncology, 2023. PMID: 38104555
   24. Yuan E, Liu K, Lee J, Tsung K, Chow F, Attenello FJ. Modulating glioblastoma chemotherapy response: Evaluating long non-coding RNA effects on DNA damage response, glioma stem cell function, and hypoxic processes. Neurooncol Adv, 2022. PMID: 36105389
   25. Waxer JF, Wong K, Modiri A, Charpentier AM, Moiseenko V, Ronckers CM, Taddei PJ, Constine LS, Sprow G, Tamrazi B, et al. Risk of cerebrovascular events among childhood and adolescent patients receiving cranial radiation therapy: a pediatric normal tissue effects in the clinic normal tissue outcomes comprehensive review (also, acknowledged Marjorie Jones, who designed Figure 1). Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2022. PMID: 36057476
   26. Vanstrum EB, Borzage MT, Ha J, Chu J, Upreti M, Moats RA, Lai LM, Chiarelli PA. Development of an ultrafast brain MR neuronavigation protocol for ventricular shunt placement. J Neurosurg, 2022. PMID: 35901769
   27. Tsui J, Martinez B, Shin MB, Allee-Munoz A, Rodriguez I, Navarro J, Thomas-Barrios KR, Kast WM, Baezconde-Garbanati L. Understanding medical mistrust and HPV vaccine hesitancy among multiethnic parents in Los Angeles. J Behav Med, 2022. PMID: 35107656
   28. Shah R, Mohamed D, Ramos-Platt LM, Grikscheit TC, Zhou S, Wong KK, Mascarenhas L. Diffuse anaplastic Wilms tumor in a child With LAMA2-related muscular dystrophy. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol, 2022. PMID: 35731920
   29. Robison NJ, Su JA, Fang MJ, Malvar J, Menteer J. Cardiac function in children and young adults treated with MEK inhibitors: a retrospective cohort study. Pediatr Cardiol, 2022. PMID: 35233653
   30. de Armas S, Huertas-Ayala C, Chan RY, Chi YY, Huh WW, Termuhlen A, Gaynon PS, Kovach AE, Doan A. Survival of pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma patients treated with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vincristine, etoposide, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide (ABVE-PC) versus doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) at a single institution. Pediatr Blood Cancer, 2022. PMID: 35187850
   31. Cooper RA, Chai Y, Nieva J. Effect of sponsor on enrollment criteria in non-small cell lung cancer clinical trials. J Cancer Policy, 2022. PMID: 35605888
   32. Sta Maria NS, Khawli LA, Pachipulusu V, Lin SW, Zheng L, Cohrs D, Liu X, Hu P, Epstein AL, Jacobs RE. Spatio-temporal biodistribution of (89)Zr-oxine labeled huLym-1-A-BB3z-CAR T-cells by PET imaging in a preclinical tumor model. Sci Rep, 2021. PMID: 34302002
   33. Ruan Y, Kim HN, Ogana HA, Wan Z, Hurwitz S, Nichols C, Abdel-Azim N, Coba A, Seo S, Loh YE, et al.Preclinical evaluation of a novel dual targeting PI3Kdelta/BRD4 inhibitor, SF2535, in B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Front Oncol, 2021. PMID: 34926269
   34. Moke DJ, Luo C, Millstein J, Knight KR, Rassekh SR, Brooks B, Ross CJD, Wright M, Mena V, Rushing T, et al.Prevalence and risk factors for cisplatin-induced hearing loss in children, adolescents, and young adults: a multi-institutional North American cohort study. Lancet Child Adolesc Health, 2021. PMID: 33581749
   35. Gong E, Perin L, Da Sacco S, Sedrakyan S. Emerging technologies to study the glomerular filtration barrier. Front Med (Lausanne), 2021. PMID: 34901088
   36. Cohen-Cutler S, Wong K, Mena V, Sianto K, Wright MA, Olch A, Orgel E. Hearing loss risk in pediatric patients treated with cranial irradiation and cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2021. PMID: 33677052
   37. Bhandari R, Scott E, Yeh MY, Wong K, Rushing T, Huh W, Orgel E. Association of body mass index with toxicity and survival in pediatric patients treated with cisplatin-containing regimens. Pediatr Hematol Oncol, 2021. PMID: 33170064
   38. Vanstrum EB, Borzage MT, Chu JK, Wang S, Rea N, McComb JG, Krieger MD, Chiarelli PA. Resolution of neonatal posthemorrhagic ventricular dilation coincident with patent ductus arteriosus ligation: case report. J Neurosurg Pediatr, 2020. PMID: 32442964
   39. Nguyen S, Weng J, Sison J, Waxer J, Nimit D, Lam B, Marques C, Olch A, Ballas L, Chang E, et al. Volumetric modulated craniospinal irradiation workflow optimization through quantitative analytics: a single-institution case study comparing pediatric and adult settings. J Radiat Oncol 2020.
   40. Low JM, Lee NJH, Sprow G, Chlebik A, Olch A, Darrow K, Bowlin K, Wong KK. Scalp and cranium radiation therapy using modulation (SCRUM) and bolus. Advances in Radiation Oncology, 2020. PMID: 33083656
   41. Kim JW, Shah SN, Green S, O’Fee J, Tamrazi B, Berry JL. Tumour size criteria for Group D and E eyes in the International Classification System for Retinoblastoma: effects on rates of globe salvage and high-risk histopathologic features. Acta Ophthalmol, 2020. PMID: 31421017
   42. Gee KM, Rosenberg D, Kim ES. Normalization of serum lipase levels versus resolution of abdominal pain: a comparison of preoperative management in children with biliary pancreatitis. J Surg Res, 2020. PMID: 32278967
   43. Sanchez VE, Nichols C, Kim HN, Gang EJ, Kim YM. Targeting PI3K signaling in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Int J Mol Sci, 2019. PMID: 30669372
   44. Nguyen SM, Sison J, Jones M, Berry JL, Kim JW, Murphree AL, Salinas V, Olch AJ, Chang EL, Wong KK. Lens dose-response prediction modeling and cataract incidence in patients with retinoblastoma after lens-sparing or whole-eye radiation therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2019. PMID: 30537543
   45. Isani MA, Jackson J, Barry WE, Mallicote MU, Rosenberg D, Stein JE, Jensen AR, Kim ES. Non-operative management is more cost-effective than immediate operation in perforated appendicitis patients with seven or more days of symptoms. J Surg Res, 2019. PMID: 30909067
   46. Gopalakrishnan R, Matta H, Choi S, Natarajan V, Prins R, Gong S, Zenunovic A, Narasappa N, Patel F, Prakash R, et al. A novel luciferase-based assay for the detection of Chimeric Antigen Receptors. Sci Rep, 2019. PMID: 30760795
   47. Berry JL, Lee R, Patel L, Le BHA, O’Fee J, Jubran R, Kim JW. Posterior vitreous detachment and the associated risk of retinal toxicity with intravitreal melphalan treatment for retinoblastoma. Ocul Oncol Pathol, 2019. PMID: 31367584

Conference Presentations:

Several other 2024 SORFites have communicated acceptance to conferences, but have not yet sent the information.

1. 1. Zhang A, Matsuo K, Roman L. Clinical characteristics of patients with cervical cancer undergoing fertility-sparing surgery with cervical excision and lymph node evaluation. In: Western Association of Gynecologic Oncology; 2024.
   2. Wolfson HC, Mohacsi S, Pai J, Xiong S, Nelson V, Konganige S, Ghani U, Pinski J. Interim analysis and feasibility of the effects of virtual reality on pain and anxiety in cancer patients undergoing bone marrow biopsy. In: ASH; 2024.
   3. Wang J, Han HR, Vassantachart A, Bonney PA, Bian SX, Ye JC. Postoperative radiotherapy for malignant cord compression treated in a public and private hospital. In: ASTRO; 2024.
   4. Tran E, Nocera L, Kolatkar A, El-Khoueiry A, Thomas J, Kuhn P, Zeng A, Kai M, Karuturi M, Nieva J. Quantified kinematics and wearable sensors to predict serious adverse events in patients undergoing cancer therapy trials. In: AACR Annual Meeting; 2024.
   5. Rodriguez A, Doan A, Aljudi A, Rolf N, O’Gorman M, Wood B, Kovach A. Flow cytometry is a reproducible adjunct to cytomorphology of cerebrospinal fluid for acute leukemia. In: American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO); 2024.
   6. Pastard W, Kaplan C, Lam C, Solano L, Axeen S., Thacker J, Saluja S, Schneberk T, Tsui J. Stool-based colorectal cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic in a safety-net setting: a mixed-methods study. In: Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, AACR; 2024. Poster.
   7. Okabe A, Ho WL, Tao ML, JC. Y. Comparison of physician vs. software assessed cosmetic sores following breast conservation Therapy. . In: American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting 2024; 2024. Poster.
   8. Okabe A, Ho WL, Tao ML, JC. Y. Cosmetic outcomes following whole breast or partial breast radiation therapy for breast cancer: a single institutional experience. In: American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting 2024; 2024. Poster.
   9. Karipineni S, Ho WLJ, Ye J. Comparing characteristics and toxicities for ultracentral, central, and peripheral lung tumors receiving hypofractionated radiation therapy (HFRT). In: American Radium Society 2024 Annual Meeting; 2024.
   10. Kaplan C, Pastard W, Thacker J, Schneberk T, Lam C, Axeen S., Tsui J. Adapting to disruption?: changes in colorectal cancer screening modalities and disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In: Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, AACR; 2024. Poster.
   11. Kam L, Peng C-C, Berry J, Xu L. Multiplexed bead-based extracellular vesicle profiling of aqueous humor from uveal melanoma eyes. In: Southern Regional Meeting; 2024.
   12. Hultquist H, *, Rodriguez A, Kovach AE. PENDING. In: ASH; 2024. Poster.
   13. Ho WLJ, Karipineni S, Ye J. Stereotactic body radiation therapy can be delivered safely to ultracentral lung tumors with excellent local control: A single-institution experience. In: American College of Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting; 2024.
   14. Cooper R, Ramaswami D, Thomas J, Nieva J, Hsu R. Efficacy of pre-treatment neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with third generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In: Targeted Therapies of Lung Cancer (TTLC) Meeting; 2024.
   15. Andreou C, Asgharzadeh S. Enrichment of neuroblastoma cells from bone marrow. In: Annual Medical Student Research Forum; 2024.
   16. Westerman C, Margol A, Davidson T, Cheung C. Immune checkpoint inhibitors and endocrinopathy in pediatric brain tumor patients (Presidential Poster Awardee). In: Pediatric Endocrine Society; 2023.
   17. Wengyn M, Kovach AE, Doan A, Vu MH, Raca G, Bhojwani D. High-risk genetic variants underlie unfavorable prognosis of B-lymphoblastic leukemia in patients of Hispanic ethnicity (Oral Presentation). In: Cancer Genomics Consortium 14th Annual Meeting; 2023.
   18. Urnes C, Sabet S, Mahdi MY, Shackleford GM, Erdreich-Epstein A, Breunig JJ. Genetically engineering a model of EZHIP posterior fossa group A ependymoma In: Cancer Research Day, Keck School of Medicine; 2023.
   19. Tsui J, Axeen S., Thacker J, Saluja S, Solano L, Pastard W, Lam C, Schneberk T, Kaplan C. Disparities in breast cancer screening resumption among health plan enrollees in the US following the COVID-19 pandemic: Are all groups back on track? . In: AACR Conference on Cancer Health Disparities; 2023. Poster.
   20. Thein TL, Gaynon P. Hyponatremia in pediatric B-ALL patients during induction therapy. In: Western Student and Resident Medical Research Conference (Oral Presentation); 2023 January 19-21; Carmel, California; 2023.
   21. Tahbaz M, Khan S, Tamrazi B, Robison N. A retrospective cohort study examining radiologic and clinical characteristics of children and adolescents with atypical/complex pineal cysts. In: SNO Pediatric Conference; 2023.
   22. Sandoval ZEW, Bhutada JS, Pawel B, Schmidt RJ, Shillingford N, Wang L, Warren M, Zhou S. A novel TEK::GAB2 gene fusion identified in a pediatric angiosarcoma of soft tissue. In: Society for Pediatric Pathology; 2023.
   23. Sandoval Z, Li M, Zhou S. Differential DNA methylation profiles in hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular neoplasm, not otherwise specified, and pediatric hepatocellular carcinoma (Oral presentation). In: Society for Pediatric Pathology; 2023.
   24. Saluja S, Tsui J, Solano L, Pastard W, Axeen S, Schneberk T, Lam C, Kaplan C. Chronic disease management during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods analysis of primary care utilization in the safety net. In: Academy Health, 2023 Annual Research Meeting; 2023.
   25. Rodriguez A, Wengyn M, Vu MH, Doan A, Raca G, Bhojwani D, Gaynon P, Kovach AE. Impact of central nervous system (CNS) leukemia status-based therapeutic protocol change on the incidence of CNS2 diagnosis in pediatric B-lymphoblastic leukemia. In: American Society of Hematology, ASH; 2023 December 7-11; San Diego, CA; 2023.
   26. Prorok R, Onyeama S-J, Martinez M, Frazer B, Marachelian A. Characterizing chemoimmunotherapy response in patients with ALK-mutated relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma. In: Advances in Neuroblastoma Research; 2023.
   27. Owen J, In GK. Cross sectional analysis of transcriptomics in melanoma-brain metastasis (Recipient of MSRPP Medical Research Travel Award; Oral Presentation). In: Western Student and Resident Medical Research Conference; 2023 January; Carmel, California; 2023.
   28. Moore HG, Stal J, Kaslander JN, Marin P, Cairns M, Ochoa-Dominguez CY, Banegas MP, Miller K. Housing instability among young adult cancer patients: a qualitative study (Oral Presentation). In: American Federation for Medical Research (AFMR); 2023.
   29. Liu KQ, Wenger T, Doan T, Attenello FJ. Glioblastoma chemoresistance is associated with decreased metabolic quiescence in glioma stem cells. In: Cancer Research Day, Keck School of Medicine; 2023.
   30. Le J, Kumar SS, Ghoreifi A, Moghaddam F, Djaladat H, Hwang D, Duddalwar V. Evaluating radiologic metrics of sarcopenia and body fat in parastomal hernia development after cystectomy and ileal conduit urinary diversion. In: 19th International Symposium on Medical Information Processing and Analysis (SIPAIM) 2023 Nov 15-17; Mexico City, Mexico: SIPAIM SPIE Annual Meeting; 2023.
   31. Kam L, Peng C-C, Berry J, Xu L. Multiplexed bead-based extracellular vesicle profiling of aqueous humor from uveal melanoma eyes. In: AMA Conference; 2023.
   32. Islam E, Pang K, Wong K. Using a bibliometric analysis to select productive research mentors. In: Korean American Medical Association (KAMA); 2023.
   33. Islam E, Pang K, Chang A, Wong K. A step-by-step guide on how to select a productive research mentor using a bibliometric analysis. In: Bangladesh Medical AssociaLon of North America (BMANA); 2023.
   34. Ghoreifi A, Kumar S, Le J, Sheybaee MF, Huang D, Djaladat H, Duddalwar V. Subcutaneous fat area as a risk factor for parastomal hernia following cystectomy and ileal conduit: data from the PUBMIC trial. In: Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) Annual Meeting; 2023.
   35. Diep R, MacDonald M, Cooper RA, Grzegorczyk A, Rakocevic R, Chang C, Nieva J. Comparative analysis of lung cancer biopsies on success of next-generation sequencing. In: Western Student and Resident Medical Research Conference; 2023 January 19-21; Carmel, California; 2023.
   36. Cen H, Dandamudi S, Lei X, Weight C, Desai M, Gill I, Duddalwar V. Diversity in renal mass data cohorts: implications for urology AI researchers. In: American Urological Association Annual Meeting; 2023 April 28 – May 1; Chicago, IL; 2023.
   37. Carrel S, Li M, Al-Zubeidy B, Zavala D, Nazarian A, Gonzalez E, Baugh A, Castanon S, Ye S, Hwang J, et al.Disparities in suppressive immunity in Hispanic/Latina patients with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. In: AACR special conference in cancer research: advances in breast cancer research; 2023.
   38. Afvari S, Cockburn MG. Skin self-examination materials: a review and recommendations. In: American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting; 2023.
   39. Waxer J, Wong K, Modiri A, Charpentier A, Moiseenko V, Ronckers C, Taddei P, Constine L, Sprow G, Tamrazi B, et al. Risk of cerebrovascular events among childhood and adolescent patients receiving cranial radiotherapy: A PENTEC normal tissue outcomes comprehensive review (Awarded 1st place for Best Literature-Based Award). In: Kaiser Permanente Research Week; 2022.
   40. Vassantachart A, Jones M, Olch A, Marques C, Ronckers C, Constine L, Maduro J, Wong K. A survey of pediatric clinical trial radiotherapy dose constraints. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2022.
   41. Urnes C, Sabet S, Mahdi MY, Shackleford GM, Erdreich-Epstein A, Breunig J. Genetically engineering models of EZHIP posterior fossa ependymoma. In: CHLA TSRI Science Day; 2022 June 30; Los Angeles, CA; 2022.
   42. Takeda M, Wengyn M, Bhojwani D, Gu Z, Wood B, Raca G, Kovach A. Distinct immunophenotypic features of novel genetic subtypes of pediatric B-lymphoblastic leukemia are recognizable in a clinical setting and can help direct molecular testing (Oral Presentation). In: Society for Pediatric Pathology (SPP), Spring Meeting; 2022.
   43. Pastard W, Kaplan C, Saluja S, Tsui J. Impact of initial SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on cancer screeninings: perspectives from Los Angeles DHS clinics. In: Drexel Discovery Day; 2022. Poster.
   44. Overholtzer LN, Margol A, Waters K, Cheung C. Earlier diagnosis of endocrine conditions in pediatric medulloblastoma patients seen in an embedded neuroendocrinology/neuro-oncology clinic model. In: Horm Res Paediatr; 2022: Karger Allschwilerstrasse 10, CH-4009 Basel, Switzerland; 2022. p. 167-167.
   45. Overholtzer LN, Margol A, Waaters K, Cheung CC. Earlier diagnosis of endocrine conditions in pediatric medulloblastoma patients seen in an embedded neuroendocrinology-neurooncology clinic model. In: Pediatric Endocrine Society Annual Meeting; 2022.
   46. McKinnon SP, Kazmierczak ZI, Olch AJ, Roh D, Nguyen E, Pang K, MacEwan IJ, Wong KK. Disparities in pediatric patients receiving proton therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic – a single institutional experience. In: 15th AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2022 September 16-19; Philadelphia, PA; 2022.
   47. Mack S, Chen SY, J. M, Kelley-Quon LI, Kim E. Intercostal nerve cryoablation reduces thoracotomy pain in pediatric oncology patients. In: 17th Annual Academic Surgical Congress; 2022 February 2; Orlando, Florida; 2022.
   48. Hwang Y, Aristizabal C, Baezconde-Garbanati L. The efficacy of educational workshops to improve human papillomavirus literacy in hispanic populations. In: Western Medical Research Conference; 2022 January 20; Carmel, CA; 2022. p. 157.
   49. Cooper R, Chai Y, Nieva J. Impact of sponsor on advanced non-small cell lung cancer clinical trial enrollment criteria. In: Western Medical Research Conference; 2022; Carmel, CA; 2022. p. 163.
   50. Bowen D, Capone S, In GK, Buisson R. Examination of mutation signature and mutation spectrum as predictors of response to immune checkpoint blockade therapy. In: American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO); 2022 June 3-7; Chicago, IL; 2022. p. 2537.
   51. Doan A, Huang HKT, Hadar AJ, Malvar J, Rushing T, Raca G, Kovach AE, Gaynon P, Orgel E. Effcacy and safety of FLAG-IDA as frontline therapy in a pediatric AML population: a single institution experience. In: American Society of Hematology, ASH; 2021 December 11-14; Atlanta, GA: Blood; 2021. p. 2342-2344.
   52. Waxer JF, Wong K, Olch A, Modiri A, Charpentier AM, Sprow G, MacDonald S, Bentzen SM, Constine LS. Radiotherapy-induced cerebrovascular events among survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer of the central nervous system: a PENTEC modeling study. In: ASTRO; 2020 November 1; 2020. p. e241-e242.

Students receive subsistence while in the summer program (in 2025 it is $600/full week). Travel to/from Los Angeles and partial housing assistance are also provided to qualifying students. Student who continue their projects through the school year will be supported based on documentation, up to a total of 15 weeks equivalent. Partial support is also available for students who travel to present their project at a  scientific conference.

Summer 2026 applications are accepted from Nov 1, 2025

Early application/admission deadline: Dec 7, 2025 11:59PM PST

• •   acceptance is in Jan 2026; early students have priority in choice of project

Regular application deadline: Jan 4, 2026, 11:59PM PST

• •   acceptance is in Feb 2026

Apply online at: SORF 2026 Application

SORF is funded by a prestigious NIH R25 Cancer Research Education Grant for Research Experiences, philanthropic funds, and institutional support.