About

The Lundquist Institute High School Summer Training in Advanced Research (High School STAR) Program is a free, eight-week biomedical research program for rising juniors and seniors from Los Angeles and Orange Counties, running June 15–August 7, 2026 at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center campus in Torrance, California. Founded in 1978, it is one of the longest-running high school biomedical research programs in the country — predating most of the university-affiliated programs that have since become standard in the field.

Fellows are placed individually in active TLI investigator labs, working Monday through Friday, 9AM–5PM, on real ongoing research projects. Research areas span neuroscience, stem cell biology, cancer, genetics, nephrology, infectious disease, cardiovascular medicine, and more — all tied to the Institute's 600+ active studies rather than curriculum designed for students. Fellows work directly alongside TLI's physician-scientists, MDs, and PhD researchers, not graduate student proxies, and participate in a weekly lecture series featuring TLI investigators presenting on their current work. The program culminates in a formal research presentation to peers, family, and the research community. A competitive stipend is provided; the exact amount is not published on the primary site. A certificate of completion is awarded upon satisfying all requirements.

The Lundquist Institute is a major independent biomedical research organization with over 100 principal investigators, academically affiliated with UCLA and physically located on the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center campus. That setting matters: fellows are working inside a functioning academic medical center where translational research — moving findings from lab bench to clinical application — is the institutional mission. The dual UCLA affiliation gives fellows access to resources from both institutions. The program draws from Los Angeles and Orange Counties and is competitive; applications required a transcript and two letters of recommendation from science teachers, with a 2026 deadline of March 30. Cohort size is not published.

For a Southern California student with serious interest in biomedical research or medicine, the High School STAR Program is one of the most substantive regional research opportunities available — eight weeks of authentic faculty-embedded lab work at a functioning academic medical center, free of charge, backed by nearly five decades of institutional history.