Students

Class of 2014–2015 Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) student intern Rebecca “Natasha” Freed earned a fourth-place award in biochemistry at the 2015 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the largest high school science research competition in the world, according to the Society for Science & the Public’s website.

Freed described the event as “transformative experience,” where she was able to present her research to “experts, including Nobel laureates, as well as members of the general community and, of course, to [other students].”

Editor’s note: We asked Werner H. Kirsten Student Internship Program (WHK SIP) mentors to tell us about the unique and diverse backgrounds of some of this year’s student interns.

Alex Beall

Microarray Group, Genomics Laboratory, Cancer Research Technology Program
Mentors: Nicole Shrader and Stephanie Mellott, research associates

By Nathalie Walker, Guest Writer

Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series describing one student’s perspective on her experiences as a Werner H. Kirsten student intern.

“The future depends on what you do today.” Those wise words were spoken by Mahatma Gandhi. Before I started my Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) student internship, I did not know what I know now. I only knew what each of Gandhi’s words meant individually. I now understand the full meaning of the phrase. To me, Gandhi’s words mean that nothing in life is handed to you. You have to work hard today to get the results you want tomorrow.

By Nathalie Walker, Guest Writer

Editor’s note: This article represents one student’s perspective on her experiences as a Werner H. Kirsten student intern.

Failure isn’t just a possibility, it is a certainty; yet failure is what leads you to success. Above all else, that is what I will retain from my experience in the Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Program (WHK SIP).

By Nathalie Walker, Guest Writer, and Carolynne Keenan, Contributing Writer

On July 31, NCI at Frederick hosted Student Poster Day, an annual event in which student interns can showcase the work they do in their various positions in NCI at Frederick labs and offices.

Participating students are interns in the Student Internship Program, a program designed for undergraduate and graduate students during their summer breaks, as well as interns in the Werner H. Kirsten Student Internship Program (WHK SIP), a program for high school seniors. All the students have an opportunity to present their scientific posters. 

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer

Werner H. Kirstin (WHK) student intern Ben Freed was one of 40 finalists to compete in the Intel Science Talent Search (STS) in Washington, DC, in March.

“It was seven intense days of interacting with amazing judges and incredibly smart and interesting students. We met President Obama, and then the MIT astronomy lab named minor planets after each of us,” Freed said of the competition.  

By Nancy Parrish, Staff Writer

Janine Bahsali and Esther Shafer are Middletown High School seniors who go to school in the morning and spend their afternoons taking blood pressure, assisting with physical exams, learning how to draw a blood sample and stitch a wound closed, and generally assisting the staff of Occupational Health Services (OHS), a health care department serving more than 2,000 employees at NCI at Frederick.

Thirty-five Werner H. Kirsten student interns toured the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda in August to learn about the services and opportunities available.

Students Share Their Research at Student Poster Day 

By Ashley DeVine, Staff Writer

More than 50 Werner H. Kirsten student interns and college interns presented their research at Summer Student Poster Day on August 6 in the Building 549 lobby. 

Joseph Bergman, a high school intern in the Center for Cancer Research Nanobiology Laboratory, participated in the event “for the opportunity to present my summer research. It allowed me to meet people and get the experience of sharing and explaining my work.”

By Robin Meckley, Contributing Writer

The category was “General Science,” and the clue read: “Named for an Italian scientist, it is the scientific number of molecules in 1 gram mole of any substance.” Everything depended on knowing the correct response and wagering enough points.