15 Medical Summer Research Opportunities for High School Students
If you are drawn to medicine, spending a summer in research is one of the clearest ways to test that interest. You will work alongside scientists and physicians, using specialized tools not available in typical school labs. You’ll develop practical skills like cell culture, data analysis, and interpreting complex scientific papers. Additionally, you might connect with mentors and peers who could influence your future directions. Many medical summer research opportunities for high school students are hosted by universities, hospitals, and national research institutes, so the work is credible, and the mentorship is strong.
What are the benefits of medical research in high school?
Research builds skills that are hard to gain in a classroom, including how to design an experiment, analyze results, and present your findings. Depending on the lab, you might study cancer cells, map genes, train a machine learning model on medical scans, or track how a disease spreads. You’ll also learn how a research team works and how to turn a question into something data can answer. These habits can strengthen your college applications and give you a head start in any medical career.
To make your search easier, we’ve curated a list of 15 medical summer research opportunities for high school students.
If you’re looking for STEM research programs, check out our blog here.
Key takeaways
These programs span cancer biology, neuroscience, genetics and genomics, biomedical engineering, immunology, AI in medicine, and clinical research, so students with a wide range of medical interests can find a relevant summer research opportunity.
Several programs offer significant stipends, including Jackson Laboratory ($7,500), City of Hope ($4,000), Roswell Park SURE-CAN ($4,200), NIH SIP (paid by education level), and Wistar Institute ($1,500), while others, such as SIMR at Stanford and Rockefeller SSRP, are free to attend with need-based aid available.
Acceptance rates are extremely low for the most selective programs, including Memorial Sloan Kettering (2%), Simons Summer Research (under 5%), and Rockefeller SSRP (32 scholars per year), so students should apply to multiple programs and submit materials as early as possible.
Application deadlines begin as early as January (Rockefeller SSRP, Jackson Laboratory), with most programs closing between February and mid-March, so students should identify target programs in the fall of their junior year and begin preparing materials immediately.
1. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)
Location: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Cost/Stipend: No cost to participate; $50 application fee (waivable); limited need-based stipends
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 8 – July 30
Application Deadline: February 21 (fee-waiver requests due one day earlier)
Eligibility: Current high school juniors and seniors, 16 or older by the start date, US citizens or permanent residents living in the US
SIMR pairs you one-on-one with a mentor in a Stanford lab across eight research areas, including immunology, cancer biology, stem cell and regenerative medicine, neuroscience, cardiovascular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, and bioengineering. You spend most of the summer on lab work tied to your mentor's project, or you can instead join a bioengineering track that builds biomedical prototypes in teams. Along the way, you attend lectures on careers in science and medicine and sessions on graduate and medical school paths. The program closes with a poster session where you present your work to families and the Stanford community. You do not need standardized test scores or a minimum GPA to apply, which lowers the barrier for students who are new to research. Housing is not provided, so plan ahead if you live outside the area.
2. Veritas AI - AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies depending on program type; need-based financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Vary by cohort: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions. You can apply to the program here.
Eligibility: AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python.
Veritas AI focuses on providing high school students who are passionate about the field of AI with a suitable environment in which to explore their interests. The programs include collaborative learning, project development, and 1-on-1 mentorship. Students are expected to have a basic understanding of Python or are recommended to complete the AI Scholars program before pursuing the fellowship. The AI Fellowship program will allow students to pursue independent AI research projects. Students work on their research projects over 15 weeks and can opt to combine AI with any other field of interest. You can find examples of previous projects here and read about a student’s experience in the program here.
3. Rockefeller University Summer Science Research Program (SSRP)
Location: The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: Free to attend; travel covered by an OMNY transit card; need-based stipends possible
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 32 scholars each summer
Dates: June 22 – August 6 (seven weeks)
Application Deadline: January 2 (recommendations due January 5)
Eligibility: Current high school juniors and seniors, 16 or older by the start date
At SSRP, you join one of four research teams built around the interests of scientist mentors from the Rockefeller, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Weill Cornell tri-institutions. Each team works like a lab, with 8 to 10 students supported by at least three mentors in a dedicated teaching lab. You spend the first weeks learning techniques, then choose a research question and spend the middle of the program investigating it. The final weeks focus on analyzing your data and building a poster for the closing symposium, and guest lectures, workshops, and electives round out the experience. Because minors cannot work with human patients, projects here center on laboratory and bench science rather than clinical work. Students are also asked not to use their SSRP work for outside science competitions, so plan accordingly if that is your goal.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Cost varies by track; need-based financial aid through the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective, with one-on-one mentorship
Dates: Summer cohorts begin in June (multiple start dates)
Application Deadline: Rolling, with summer deadlines from February through July
Eligibility: High school students (grades 9 to 12) worldwide
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program pairs you one-on-one with a PhD researcher from a top university to produce an independent research paper. You can choose a medical or life-science focus, such as biology, neuroscience, or medicine, or design your own topic. Over about twelve weeks, you meet with your mentor to shape a research question, work through the literature, and write your paper with structured feedback. Students in the publication track receive additional support to submit their work to selective journals. Completing a program also makes you eligible for post-baccalaureate credit through UC San Diego Extended Studies.
5. NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP)
Location: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD (and other NIH campuses)
Stipend: Paid stipend, set by education level
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Mid-May – late August (minimum eight weeks)
Application Deadline: Mid-February (applications open in mid-November)
Eligibility: US citizens or permanent residents; graduating high school seniors who are 17 to 18 and live within 40 miles of an NIH campus
The NIH Summer Internship Program places you in a research group led by a principal investigator inside the country's leading biomedical agency. You can work in basic, translational, or clinical research across fields like biology, epidemiology, bioinformatics, and pharmacology. There is no central match; you reach out to investigators whose work interests you, and they select and fund their own interns. Alongside the research, you get professional development programming and a summer poster day where interns share their work. Because you find your own mentor, starting early and emailing investigators directly makes a clear difference. For eligible seniors near a campus, this is one of the most respected medical summer research opportunities for high school students in the country.
6. Memorial Sloan Kettering Summer Student Program
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Stipend: $1,200 stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 20 interns, with about a 2% acceptance rate
Dates: June 29 – August 21
Application Deadline: February 6 (applications open December 1)
Eligibility: Current high school juniors with a 3.5 science GPA, 14 or older, living in NY, NJ, or CT within 25 miles of the main campus
As one of the most selective medical summer research opportunities for high school students, the Summer Student Program places you in a Memorial Sloan Kettering lab for a self-directed project that supports your principal investigator's research. You can work in areas such as cancer biology, immunology, computational biology, structural biology, or drug development. A mentor supervises your work and helps you build the technical skills the project needs. You also join lab meetings and program sessions that show how translational medicine connects the bench to the clinic. Projects here sit inside a working cancer center, so you can see how laboratory questions link to patient care. The summer ends with a poster session where you present your findings.
7. Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP)
Location: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA
Stipend: Paid; a financial award on completion, plus a free ORCA transit card
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 22 – August 14
Application Deadline: Mid-March (recommendations due by the same date)
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors, 16 or older, living in the greater Seattle area; US-based
SHIP is built for students who have not had much research experience, so it opens with two weeks of training in lab safety and techniques. For the remaining six weeks, you are paired and placed in a Fred Hutch research group working on cancer and related biomedical questions. You take part in research seminars and college and career workshops, and you close the summer by presenting to the Fred Hutch community. The two-week training makes this a strong entry point if you have never worked in a lab before.
8. Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences (JHIBS)
Location: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD (in person) or Virtual
Stipend: Paid, at an hourly wage, plus transportation fund
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive; small cohort
Dates: 8 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: March 1 (applications open December 1)
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors; Baltimore City students for the in-person track, students nationwide for the virtual track
The Johns Hopkins Internship in Brain Sciences focuses on neuroscience and mental health medicine. You get exposure to research in the behavioral sciences along with mentorship and professional development. The in-person track serves students from Baltimore City high schools, while a virtual track opens the program to students across the country. You work with faculty and trainees who study the brain, and you build the background that helps you move toward a science career. The virtual option is unusual here, since it lets you take part in Johns Hopkins brain research from anywhere in the US.
9. City of Hope: Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy
Location: City of Hope, Duarte, CA
Stipend: $4,000 stipend on completion
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: 10 weeks over the summer (early June to early August)
Application Deadline: Mid-March (applications open in mid-January)
Eligibility: High school and undergraduate students, 16 or older by the start date, US citizens or permanent residents
The Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy sits at City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center near Los Angeles. You join a biomedical research team and design your own project in an area that interests you. Physicians and scientists serve as mentors, and a weekly seminar series allows you to communicate your findings to peers and instructors. You design and lead your own project rather than slotting into a set assignment, which gives you room to follow your own questions. It is one of the longest-running medical summer research opportunities for high school students in the country.
10. The Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program
Location: The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
Stipend: $7,500 stipend, including room and board and round-trip travel
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: 10 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: Late January
Eligibility: High school seniors and undergraduates
The Jackson Laboratory is a leading global hub for genetics and genomics research, offering its Summer Student Program as an immersive experience. Participants join an active research team to undertake a project aligned with their mentor's lab, guided by scientific mentors to understand discovery-driven research. Over time, students gain increasing independence, approaching the responsibilities of a junior team member by the program's end. Since genetics and genomics are central to modern medicine, the skills gained have broad applications beyond specific diseases. For high school seniors seeking a comprehensive lab experience, this program is a premier choice among medical summer research opportunities.
11. Roswell Park High School Summer Research Experience in Cancer (SURE-CAN)
Location: Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY
Stipend: $4,200 subsistence allowance for the program
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: Seven weeks, late June to early August
Application Deadline: No published deadline on the program page; applications open in winter (contact Tatiana.Shaurova@RoswellPark.org)
Eligibility: High school juniors enrolled in Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, or Chautauqua County schools
Roswell Park's High School Summer Research Experience in Cancer, known as SURE-CAN, is set inside a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center. You dedicate around 40 hours weekly to cancer research, collaborating with scientists and mastering lab techniques in an oncology-focused environment. Designed for Buffalo-area students interested in science careers, the program offers insights into a research pathway and connects your project directly to cancer study and treatment. It stands out as one of the few high school summer research programs focused solely on oncology.
12. The Wistar Institute High School Fellowship in Biomedical Research
Location: The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA
Stipend: $1,500 stipend on completion, plus SEPTA transit passes
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 15 students
Dates: July 6 – 30, with an optional three-week cancer-lab extension
Application Deadline: No published deadline on the program page; interviews in April and decisions in early May (contact jdiaz@wistar.org)
Eligibility: Students 16 or older by the start date who have completed at least one high school science course; Philadelphia students prioritized
The Wistar Institute, recognized for its work in cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases, offers a High School Fellowship in Biomedical Research. This program provides students with hands-on experience in a training laboratory, where they learn lab techniques while supporting ongoing projects. Participants also develop skills to interpret scientific literature and present their findings, with no prior research experience required. A select group is offered an optional extension for additional mentored research in a cancer lab, allowing some students to transition from structured training to independent, mentored cancer research. It is a strong pick among medical summer research opportunities for high school students in the Philadelphia area.
13. Simons Summer Research Program
Location: Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Stipend: Stipend award at program completion
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective, with under 5% admitted
Dates: June 29 – August 7
Application Deadline: February 5 (school nomination due January 30; recommendations February 13)
Eligibility: Current high school juniors, 16 or older by the start date, US citizens or permanent residents; a school nomination is required
The Simons Summer Research Program places you with a Stony Brook faculty mentor and an active research team for the summer. You can choose from science, math, or engineering mentors, including many in biomedical and health-related fields. You learn laboratory techniques, join a research group, and experience daily life at a research university. The program ends with a poster symposium where you present your findings, and the Simons projects can become the basis for national science competition entries.
14. University of Iowa Secondary Student Training Program (SSTP)
Location: University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Cost: $7,500 program fee; financial aid can cover up to 95 percent, plus scholarships
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 17 – July 24
Application Deadline: February 16 (applications open December 15)
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10 to 11; international students may apply
The Secondary Student Training Program, run by the University of Iowa's Belin-Blank Center, places you in a faculty-mentored research group for the summer. Medical and health-focused departments take part, including internal medicine, neurology, pathology, psychiatry, and biomedical engineering. You work with your research group during the week, complete a project, and present a poster at the end. You earn three semester hours of University of Iowa credit and live on campus with other students in the program. Evening seminars guide you through the research process with readings and assignments.
15. Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Location: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (also Manassas and Woodbridge campuses)
Cost/Stipend: $1,299 tuition plus a $25 application fee; fee and tuition waivers for students with financial need
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: June 18 – August 12 (research begins June 22)
Application Deadline: February 15 (applications open December 8)
Eligibility: Students 16 or older for lab-based projects (15 for others); two summers allowed
The Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program at George Mason matches you with a faculty mentor for an original research project. Mentors offer remote, in-person, or hybrid formats, so you can take part even if you cannot travel to a campus. Projects span many fields, including biomedical and health sciences, and you work about 30 hours a week over the summer. Fee and tuition waivers are available for students who qualify, which widens access. The remote and hybrid options make this one of the more flexible medical summer research opportunities for high school students. Students may also return for a second summer to go deeper into their research.
Frequently asked questions
1. What medical summer research opportunities are available for high school students?
Options include university and hospital-based research programs, such as SIMR at Stanford, Rockefeller SSRP, and University of Iowa SSTP, cancer-focused programs, such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, Fred Hutch, City of Hope, Roswell Park SURE-CAN, and Wistar Institute; federal research programs, such as NIH SIP, neuroscience programs, such as Johns Hopkins JHIBS, and virtual or flexible programs, such as Veritas AI AI + Medicine, Lumiere Research Scholar Program, and ASSIP at George Mason.
2. Which medical research programs are free or offer the largest stipends for high school students?
SIMR at Stanford, Rockefeller SSRP, and Fred Hutch SHIP are free or offer transit and financial support. Jackson Laboratory offers the largest stipend at $7,500, followed by Roswell Park SURE-CAN ($4,200), City of Hope ($4,000), Wistar Institute ($1,500), and Memorial Sloan Kettering ($1,200). NIH SIP pays a stipend based on education level.
3. Which programs are best for students with no prior research experience?
Fred Hutch SHIP is explicitly designed for students with little to no lab background, opening with two weeks of technique training before lab placement. Wistar Institute High School Fellowship also requires no prior research experience and provides structured laboratory training. ASSIP at George Mason and Lumiere Research Scholar Program are also accessible to students earlier in their research journey.
4. When should I apply to medical summer research opportunities for high school students?
The earliest deadlines are Rockefeller SSRP (January 2) and Jackson Laboratory (late January). Most programs close between February and mid-March, including SIMR at Stanford (February 21), NIH SIP (mid-February), Memorial Sloan Kettering (February 6), Simons Summer Research (February 5), and Fred Hutch SHIP (mid-March). Students should begin identifying target programs and requesting recommendations in the fall of their junior year.