Hands on Learning in the Lab for "Discovery to Cure" High School Interns

A summer of learning and discovery will culminate with presentations Friday August 24 at 12:30 p.m. by 20 students participating in the fifth annual “Discovery to Cure” high school internship program at Yale School of Medicine, 315 Cedar Street, Room 110.

A summer of learning and discovery will culminate with presentations Friday August 24 at 12:30 p.m. by 20 students participating in the fifth annual “Discovery to Cure” high school internship program at Yale School of Medicine, 315 Cedar Street, Room 110.

The program fosters interest in science and research. Participating students were from Fairfield, Amity, Mercy, Cheshire and Guilford high schools, as well as The Sound School, Andover Academy and Cheshire Academy.

“We are proud to have been able to offer this program to a fifth round of outstanding students who have worked hard to achieve their goals,” said the program’s creator Gil Mor, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences. “Our goal is to expose high quality students from nearby communities to Yale’s labs and possibly open their minds to future career opportunities.”

The 20 students were paired with a postdoctoral fellow, graduate student or laboratory technician who supervised them. They learned a variety of research techniques in different labs related to ongoing scientific projects such as PCR, a method used to amplify genes to as much as 1,000 times their size. In the past, students have spent the internship extracting proteins from human tissue, performing animal experiments or using high-tech machines for cell isolation or protein quantification. 

Of the 80 students who applied for the opportunity, 20 were selected after visiting the Department and writing an essay on their interest in pursuing the internship. Students were selected with the help of science teachers who chose their top students with an interest in research careers. Many of the students had never been to Yale and never considered applying before completing the program.

The internship program includes an interdepartmental partnership with researchers at the Departments of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Pathology, Immunobiology, Dermatology, Medical Oncology and the MRI center.

Mrs. Katherine Brady, Mr. & Mrs. Arie David and Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Miller gave generous support for the program.

For more information on applying to the program, please contact Irene Visintin.



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Media Contact

Karen N. Peart: karen.peart@yale.edu, 203-980-2222