An Introduction to Laboratory Research

For the second, consecutive summer, the Einstein-Montefiore Summer High School Research Program introduced high school students, age 16 and older, to the excitement of cutting-edge scientific research. "It is our hope that, through this experience, students gain understanding of the work done in a research laboratory, opening their minds to the possibility of a career in science," said Dr. Victoria Freedman, co-program director and associate dean for graduate programs in biological sciences at Einstein.

During the five-week program, students were assigned to various Einstein and Montefiore laboratories, where they joined a lab team under the guidance of a principal investigator, who also served as a mentor, together with a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory. As part of their summer research experience, the students also attended all faculty lectures and enrichment activities, including research ethics sessions, offered through the Science Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). And at the conclusion of the program, the students presented their work at the annual Einstein High School Summer Research Day.

Upon returning to their respective high schools, students become research ambassadors,working with their high school science department to develop a program for their school, such as a guest lecture or other school-based activity.

"The program offers us an opportunity to reach out to promising young women and men and to provide them with experiences that are both rewarding and inspirational," said Dr. Amy Fox, co-program director and associate professor of clinical pathology at Einstein, as well as director of virology and of point of care testing at Montefiore Medical Center. "We want to open doors for them they may not even have known existed and to get them to think about science and medicine in new ways."