Students

College Graduate with NCI Internship Gains Experience, Carries Chemistry into Medicine

For Jennifer Marshall, the skills learned through an internship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick have prepared her for the next step of her life—medical school. Marshall, who will be attending the West Virginia University School of Medicine in the fall, spent three summers in NCI at Frederick’s Summer Internship Program expanding her love and passion for science and the medical field.

Summer Events at the Scientific Library

If it’s summer, then it’s time for Jeopardy and videos at the National Cancer Institute at Frederick! Traditionally, the Scientific Library has hosted a Science Jeopardy Tournament in July and offered a Summer Video Series in June, July, and August. This year will be no different, as the Scientific Library will host the 11th Annual Student Science Jeopardy Tournament and a six-week series of film screenings.

WHK Interns Highlight the Importance of Their Work

The Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) student interns at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Frederick are participating in groundbreaking cancer research, along with large-scale projects and technological advancements, during their senior year of high school. The interns at NCI at Frederick are given more than the opportunity to watch the research; they participate in and conduct their own projects to contribute to the NCI mission.

Former WHK Intern Returns to NCI at Frederick as Earl-Stadtman Investigator

The Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Signaling (LCDS) recently welcomed John Brognard, Ph.D., as the new Earl-Stadtman Investigator. While Brognard is new to this role, he is not new to NCI at Frederick. In high school, Brognard was a Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern in what was formerly known as the ABL research program, where he worked under Bob Moschel, Ph.D., senior investigator, and Gary Pauly, Ph.D., currently a staff scientist in the Chemical Biology Laboratory.

Be a Mentor and Experience the Excitement of Rediscovery

You don’t really know something until you can teach it to someone. Raul Cachau said he believes this is not only true in academia, but in research laboratories as well. He said that being a mentor means rediscovering things long taken for granted.

“It really forces you to rethink some of the things you do,” said Cachau, Ph.D., principal scientist, Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC). “It brings focus to many of the things that happen on a daily basis … There’s a positive impact to taking a fresh look at something.”

Former Intern: Skills Used For a Lifetime

Michelle Marcelino developed a strong interest in science as a child. The former Werner H. Kirsten student intern’s father was a physicist and often discussed with his daughters how the world works in terms of science.

“I think my father instilled it in me from a very young age,” Marcelino said. “I remember being in elementary school and my father telling us colors are just wavelengths of light perceived by your eye. That’s my dad, explaining that concept in detail to a child.” 

Expanding STEM Education

Editor’s note: This article is written as a reflection on experiential STEM education by a student who completed her Werner H. Kirsten internship in June 2015. Here, she advocates for incorporating hands-on experience into STEM curricula.

If the only way for high school students to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is through textbooks, then count me out. But how then do you get students to learn STEM outside of the classroom? The focus of this article is to advocate for high school STEM education through experiential learning.

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