ACE Scholars Program

The Arizona Cancer Evolution Center (ACE) is excited to recruit undergraduate students to its ACE Scholars research program for Spring 2024. The ACE Scholars program aims to recruit motivated undergraduates from a diverse set of backgrounds and skillsets to pursue research projects at the intersection of cancer biology and evolutionary theory. The emerging field of cancer evolution seeks to employ evolutionary theory to address how we can understand the progression of cancer in individuals and how natural selection has shaped cancer risk across the tree of life. Our group explores a broad range of research questions within this field from cancer-like diseases in species of coral to reproductive cancers across mammals and the language of cancer (i.e., how do we talk or not about cancer and how does that impact various clinical and non-clinical domains). Much of our research relies on computational and bioinformatics methods but a background in these topics is not required to be considered for admission. The ACE Scholars program offers robust training in the methods relevant to our research as well as professional development training aimed to enhance graduate school applications, science communication, and personal branding. 

Students can take research credits as allowed by their degree program/department should they want to do so.