Philadelphia high school students get hands-on experience at Wistar Institute
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Future scientists and researchers got a special kind of hands-on experience this summer at Philadelphia's Wistar Institute.
Philadelphia high school students are working in Wistar's state-of-the-art training lab, and they're working on some high-minded projects.
They're not just talking about advanced science at the Wistar Institute. The group of Philly high school students is getting a real-life dose of work in the biomedical lab.
"You can actually perform experiments and learn more by experimenting with your hands," Arafina Airon, a student, said.
Oreen wants to eventually improve health care in her native Bangladesh.
"I want to make healthcare more accessible to under-resourced underprivileged families, especially with women," Oreen said.
At Wistar, they're learning getting to see how science and medicine work, starting at the cellular level, and they're learning from the people who make it happen.
Scientists at Wistar helped develop the MMR formula, which was then used to create several life-saving vaccines, including the one for COVID-19.
"He died of COVID but before he was struggling with cancer," Nia DeVard, a high school student, said.
Devard says she watched her grandfather struggle with all sorts of medical complications.
Now, she wants to eventually be able to help others like him. She jumped at the opportunity to be in this summer fellowship
"I love science and I wanted to get into research," DeVard said. "I've never experienced what a real lab is like."
And now she's doing real experiments like working on cancer biology and infectious diseases
"We can tell students about these things, but when they get to put hands on and contribute to real research going on at Wistar. That's when you see the spark and when students have those aha moments," Kristy Shuda McGuire, the dean of biomedical students at Wistar, said.
Moments here that can make lasting impressions
It's the 30th year Wistar has held the high school biomedical fellowship. The institute also works with other student groups throughout the year.