Fifty Indiana high-school students will get that opportunity March 7-8, 2010, at the Molecular Medicine in Action (MMIA) program at the Indiana University School of Medicine. These select students will work alongside some of the nation’s top researchers in the labs of the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.
Packets have been mailed to Indiana high schools, and science teachers will be able to submit students for participation. There is an online application form at www.wellscenter.iupui.edu/MMIA with a deadline of Oct. 30. Applications will be reviewed by a panel of Indiana biology and chemistry teachers. Selections will be made and students notified by Dec. 11.
“Our goal is to share the excitement of what genetic science promises,” said Karen Pollok, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, pharmacology and toxicology, and program leader for MMIA. “We merely loan the student participants the tools to learn – they provide the vision. Working side-by-side with our scientists, our program gives science students a realistic and meaningful hands-on experience.”
Under the supervision of IU scientists, the students will rotate through workstations and labs, learning how DNA – the building blocks of life – is isolated and analyzed. This year the interactive research modules have been expanded to focus on a variety of disease states: diabetes, cancer, cardiology, and pulmonary diseases. Students will get hands-on experience working with the latest technologies that are used to gain insight into and treat these various health problems. In addition, students will learn about the latest microscopic imaging techniques that enable researchers to study living cells and participate in an electronic classroom on bioethics.
This year’s program is supported in part by the Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, IU School of Medicine and Riley Children’s Foundation.