25 top Tucson high school students in UA labs this summer

Editor's note: Students are available for interviews and photo opportunities in laboratories.

(Tucson, Ariz.—June 30, 2008)—Twenty-five exceptional Tucson high school students are learning lab skills, engaging in research projects, and presenting their findings to their peers, mentors and parents during the KEYS (K-12 Engaging Youth in Science) summer research internship program June 9-July 18 at the BIO5 Institute and the College of Pharmacy at The University of Arizona (UA).

"It is a fantastic opportunity for these students to see what science is all about,” says Kevin Hall, director of research training and career development for the BIO5 Institute. “It’s one thing to follow a step-by-step lab ‘recipe’ in a class with fellow students, and another to design an experiment to solve a problem, to adjust the experiment when the data requires it, and to try a new approach again and again. It really opens their eyes to the process, and ultimately gives them confidence in their ability to conduct a scientific experiment.”

The internship focuses on biomedical and environmental health sciences. The students are selecting research topics from genetics/molecular biology, pharmacology/toxicology, and computational biology/bioinformatics and working with nearly 30 renowned UA researchers, including Vicki Chandler, BIO5 director; BIO5 members Rod Wing and David Gang, Department of Plant Sciences; Roger Miesfeld, Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Molecular & Cellular Biology; Fernando Martinez, Arizona Respiratory Center; A. Jay Gandolfi, Serrine Lau, Terrence Monks, and Catharine Smith, College of Pharmacy; and College of Pharmacy researchers Nathan Cherrington and Georg Wondrak.

The skills and techniques learned in the program are enhanced by the opportunity to network with others who share an enthusiasm for science: fellow high school students, as well as UA undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and other mentors.

“The benefit of the KEYS program to the students is that it gives them an idea of how scientific research works and helps them decide eventually whether they want a career in research," says Catharine Smith, associate professor in the College of Pharmacy and a BIO5 member. "Having access to a lab and the opportunity to participate in biomedical research is very exciting to the students. And, because many of these students are local, they may end up going to the UA for their undergraduate or graduate education. That's a great benefit to our university."

The program will culminate with a poster session during which the students will present their research. The presentation will be held at the BIO5 Institute July 18 from 9-11 a.m.

KEYS is supported by the UA's BIO5 Institute; UA's Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy; the Joint Technological Education District; and the iPlant Collaborative at the UA.