Christine Cutucache, Ph.D.
- Director of the STEM TRAIL Center
- Haddix Community Chair of Science
- Associate Professor of Biology
- College of Arts and Sciences
Additional Information
Bio
Dr. Cutucache is a tumor immunologist turned science educator. During her tenure, Dr. Cutucache has secured $10.9 million in extramural funding, and has published 34 peer-reviewed articles on her research, and been selected as a Fulbright Scholar (2020).
She has delivered over 50 presentations on her work around the world with most including undergraduate research students as co-authors or co-presenters. Her research lab is diverse in studying both tumor immunology (specifically tumor-induced immunosuppression in B- and T-cell leukemias and lymphomas) as well as Discipline-Based Education Research (so-called ‘DBER’ or science education).
She is interested in student-centered, inquiry-based practices to improve learning outcomes, including critical thinking and metacognition. Dr. Cutucache served as the founder of the now Nebraska-wide Nebraska STEM 4U (NE STEM 4U) program, which engages K-8 youth in high-quality out-of-school time activities in STEM via problem-based learning.
To-date, this program has engaged 6,000 youth through sustainable, academic year-based programming. The NE STEM 4U project is a collaborative project between the University and Community Partners and stakeholders.
Currently, she is preparing a textbook with Elsevier on “MicroRNA in Human Malignancies” and a book called, “Leading from the Middle”, both for publication in 2021.
Ongoing Research
Dr. Cutucache is acutely interested in supporting undergraduates comprehensively through their journey toward degree. This includes providing experiential learning, professional development and coaching support, and helping students to identify how they learn best to support their lifelong learning. These activities are supported through several core grants, with a few highlighted below.
S-STEM Employee
Investigators aim to engage 22 STEM Scholars, in two cohorts of 11 Scholars each, in NE STEM 4U—a locally established, student-led, and faculty-supported UNO program that enhances the knowledge and performance of students in the STEM disciplines by engaging them in meaningful pre-professional disciplinary practices, including teaching, research skill-building, and mentoring. NE STEM 4U reflects best practices articulated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in its report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. As an integral part of the program, S-STEM Scholars will receive training in active-learning strategies and will teach STEM-focused educational afterschool activities to socioeconomically disadvantaged K8 students, thereby furthering the pipeline of interest and retention in STEM. Scholars will enter the S-STEM cohort together by enrolling in the Research as a Transferrable Skill course, which emphasizes the translatability of skills acquired in undergraduate pre-professional experiences to the STEM workforce. In this project, researchers will investigate the impact of the NE STEM 4U intervention on the critical thinking skills and STEM identity of participating S-STEM Scholars. Using a mixed methods approach, investigators will collect and analyze quantitative data (such as scores on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and rates of academic program completion and retention in STEM fields post-graduation) as well as qualitative data (such as student surveys, interviews, and reflections), with a goal of addressing three research questions:
1) How does training and practice in teaching impact the critical thinking skills of Scholars?
2) How does participating as a cohort in STEM-focused pre-professional activities—including teaching, research-skills training, and mentoring—impact the STEM identity and commitment to STEM pathways of Scholars?
3) How does participating as a cohort in STEM-focused pre-professional activities impact retention, academic program completion, degree attainment, and career placement of Scholars?
Noyce NebraskaSCIENCE
The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will undertake a Noyce Track 1 project to recruit, prepare, and support a minimum of 25 undergraduate majors in the disciplines of biology, chemistry, geography/geology, and physics to become well-prepared secondary school science teachers. Project activities will develop culturally responsive science teachers with deep STEM content expertise through the use of specific pedagogies. It will actively involve the Noyce Scholars in the process of science so that they can engage youth from diverse backgrounds in the scientific enterprise. Noyce Scholars will participate in professional development activities from inception through their early years of teaching in high-need school districts.
Biomarker Identification and Development for Cancer Patients
Additional Information
Bio
Dr. Cutucache is a tumor immunologist turned science educator. During her tenure, Dr. Cutucache has secured $10.9 million in extramural funding, and has published 34 peer-reviewed articles on her research, and been selected as a Fulbright Scholar (2020).
She has delivered over 50 presentations on her work around the world with most including undergraduate research students as co-authors or co-presenters. Her research lab is diverse in studying both tumor immunology (specifically tumor-induced immunosuppression in B- and T-cell leukemias and lymphomas) as well as Discipline-Based Education Research (so-called ‘DBER’ or science education).
She is interested in student-centered, inquiry-based practices to improve learning outcomes, including critical thinking and metacognition. Dr. Cutucache served as the founder of the now Nebraska-wide Nebraska STEM 4U (NE STEM 4U) program, which engages K-8 youth in high-quality out-of-school time activities in STEM via problem-based learning.
To-date, this program has engaged 6,000 youth through sustainable, academic year-based programming. The NE STEM 4U project is a collaborative project between the University and Community Partners and stakeholders.
Currently, she is preparing a textbook with Elsevier on “MicroRNA in Human Malignancies” and a book called, “Leading from the Middle”, both for publication in 2021.
Ongoing Research
Dr. Cutucache is acutely interested in supporting undergraduates comprehensively through their journey toward degree. This includes providing experiential learning, professional development and coaching support, and helping students to identify how they learn best to support their lifelong learning. These activities are supported through several core grants, with a few highlighted below.
S-STEM Employee
Investigators aim to engage 22 STEM Scholars, in two cohorts of 11 Scholars each, in NE STEM 4U—a locally established, student-led, and faculty-supported UNO program that enhances the knowledge and performance of students in the STEM disciplines by engaging them in meaningful pre-professional disciplinary practices, including teaching, research skill-building, and mentoring. NE STEM 4U reflects best practices articulated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in its report, Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action. As an integral part of the program, S-STEM Scholars will receive training in active-learning strategies and will teach STEM-focused educational afterschool activities to socioeconomically disadvantaged K8 students, thereby furthering the pipeline of interest and retention in STEM. Scholars will enter the S-STEM cohort together by enrolling in the Research as a Transferrable Skill course, which emphasizes the translatability of skills acquired in undergraduate pre-professional experiences to the STEM workforce. In this project, researchers will investigate the impact of the NE STEM 4U intervention on the critical thinking skills and STEM identity of participating S-STEM Scholars. Using a mixed methods approach, investigators will collect and analyze quantitative data (such as scores on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and rates of academic program completion and retention in STEM fields post-graduation) as well as qualitative data (such as student surveys, interviews, and reflections), with a goal of addressing three research questions:
1) How does training and practice in teaching impact the critical thinking skills of Scholars?
2) How does participating as a cohort in STEM-focused pre-professional activities—including teaching, research-skills training, and mentoring—impact the STEM identity and commitment to STEM pathways of Scholars?
3) How does participating as a cohort in STEM-focused pre-professional activities impact retention, academic program completion, degree attainment, and career placement of Scholars?
Noyce NebraskaSCIENCE
The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will undertake a Noyce Track 1 project to recruit, prepare, and support a minimum of 25 undergraduate majors in the disciplines of biology, chemistry, geography/geology, and physics to become well-prepared secondary school science teachers. Project activities will develop culturally responsive science teachers with deep STEM content expertise through the use of specific pedagogies. It will actively involve the Noyce Scholars in the process of science so that they can engage youth from diverse backgrounds in the scientific enterprise. Noyce Scholars will participate in professional development activities from inception through their early years of teaching in high-need school districts.