Uriel Medical Foundation

SHADE Program: Sunhat Awareness Distribution and Education. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. 90 percent of nonmelanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation. A person receives a quarter of their lifetime UV exposure by age 18 and the hours in the day with the strongest UV radiation occur during school hours. Skin cancer education for children is necessary for long-term health. The UMF developed and implemented SHADE over the last several years to educate elementary students about sun safety in an effort to reduce the occurrence of skin cancer. SHADE is a hands on science curriculum with experiments and equipment. The SHADE Program has been implemented in 8 elementary schools and has expanded to other nonprofit education entities for implementation at summer camps. Total annual impact = 1000 kids. This year three volunteers restrategized the curriculum during a pandemic where student were learning remotely.

High School Research Program. This program was developed to provide rural high school students an opportunity to have access to mentorship from physicians and top tier college students through research collaboration. All too often students from rural settings have limited access to educational advancement mentorship resulting in lost opportunities for the student and the community. The mission of this project is provide rural high school students insight to educational and research opportunities around the world aimed at developing youth who may then return to their rural communities following their advanced education infusing new expertise and innovation into the rural setting. Two volunteers organized the project in this inaugural year. Eight high school students from around the country were selected to participate in the next year.

Rural Medical Outreach. Barriers to medical care are particularly acute in rural areas with limited resources. These barriers can be due to lack of care available within short distances education levels of the population among several other factors. The UMF is evaluating these barriers to care and strategizing approaches to address the barriers through coordinating relationships between rural hospitals medical providers and researchers. This is a multi-year ongoing project. Coordination has begun with two UMF volunteers three rural hospitals a private practice clinic and a large research organization.