AAIP Youth Initiative Group Catches Collins for Photo Op

American Indian high school students pose with Dr. Collins outside, on the NIH campus.

A group of visiting students bumped into NIH director Dr. Francis Collins on their way to NIAAA lab tours and the director was happy to oblige a photo opportunity.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

A large group of high school students, dressed in red, pose in the Clinical Center's south lobby.

The larger NIH contingent gathers in the Clinical Center with AAIP counselors and staff.

Photo: Gary Lankford/AAIP

A group of American Indian high school students from across the country who were selected as part of the Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) National Native American Youth Initiative recently caught up with NIH director Dr. Francis Collins for a quick photo op. The students, who were in the Washington D.C., area July 1-9, spent July 3 and 5 on the NIH campus, listening to lectures presented by intramural and extramural staff.

The trans-NIH initiative serves as an opportunity to showcase and introduce biomedical research in operation to high school students who come from communities that are most likely to be underrepresented in biomedical careers, such as those from American Indian and Alaska Native backgrounds. The event, coordinated by Dr. DeLoris Hunter of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, provided laboratory tours, science lectures and networking opportunities for the scholars as a way to increase their access to medical and research career tracks.

There were 24 students total in the NIH contingent and a smaller group was walking across campus en route to NIAAA lab tours with Dr. Nancy Diazgranados when they spotted Collins. He happened to be awaiting a visit from a Capitol Hill group and was glad to pause for a photo with the students.

In addition to NIMHD and NIAAA, other partner ICs for the event were NIAID, NHLBI, NHGRI, CC, NINDS, NIBIB and NLM.