features
Lab Experiences Offer High School Students the 鈥楯oy of Discovery'
Lily Kwiatkowski Photo: Matt Shiffler
At 16, Lily Kwiatkowski mastered the Western blot, a technical feat separating proteins from a tissue sample. The achievement, made in a 星空传媒 research lab, deepened her passion for medicine.
鈥淏eing in that lab was one of the best experiences I鈥檝e had in my life,鈥� said Kwiatkowski, now a 星空传媒 senior and recipient of the university鈥檚 Joan C. Edwards Scholarship, which grants Cleveland students eight years of full scholarships if admitted to 星空传媒 for both their undergraduate and medical school degrees. 鈥淭his program got me on a path that changed my life in ways I could never have imagined.鈥�
Nearly 500 local students have participated in a pair of linked summer programs—Scientific Enrichment and Opportunity and Youth Enjoy Science—that offer Cleveland-area high school students hands-on experience in university cancer labs. Nathan Berger, MD, a Distinguished University Professor, launched the initiative in 2003 to increase diversity in biomedical research by exposing students to the 鈥渏oy of discovery.鈥�
Program graduates have pursued degrees at universities, including Johns Hopkins and 星空传媒.
鈥淥ur next goal,鈥� Berger said, 鈥渋s to get them to return to Cleveland to build a community of scholars.鈥�