Two Oregon High School students and Boz research immersion scholars, Angela Zhao (fall 2020) and Natalie Olander (summer 2020), competed in the translational and basic research categories respectively at the Oregon Bio Digital conference – Pitch & Partner 2020 event. Angela’s presentation entitled Putting the Brakes on Parkinson’s Disease from work done as an intern at the VA Portland Healthcare System. Natalie presented the research she worked on at Boz, the Effects of HFPO-DA Stress on C. Elegans. Natalie and Angela were two high school students among 19 competitors including graduate students, scientists and entrepreneurs competing for prizes in four categories at the three-day virtual bioscience conference.

As the world learns to adapt to a virtual reality this year, Boz Institute reached students that would not ordinarily have an opportunity to participate in the Research Immersion Program. This fall we launched a scholarship-funded, online program for students from underserved communities in California, Oregon, and a group of students from Ghana, Africa. Boz co-founder Liisa Bozinovic, a Board member of a Ghana focused nonprofit, Learn Grow Lead, helped implement the program to include scholars from Ghana. This article presents the story of this collaboration through interviews with the program participants and instructors.