Aug. 11, 2017
'I wanted to learn what research is all about'
Westmount Charter School student Katherine Hovdestad worked in Mark Ungrin鈥檚 biorobotics laboratory.
Dwayne Brunner, Alberta Innovates
抖阴APP导航 again welcomed 22 Alberta high school students into biomedical and health-related research laboratories as part of the 2017 Alberta Innovates Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) program.
HYRS is a six-week science program that gives Grade 11 students the opportunity to experience research first-hand in a laboratory setting. Each student is paired with a faculty member at 抖阴APP导航 to complete a research project throughout July and August. Each student is awarded a $2,500 stipend from Alberta Innovates for their work during the program.
Katherine Hovdestad, a student from Westmount Charter School, is a participant in this year鈥檚 program. 鈥淚 applied (to HYRS) because I wanted to learn what research is all about,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t sounds very prestigious, and I wanted to see what the day-to-day life is like.鈥
Hovdestad is working in Mark Ungrin鈥檚 laboratory, looking at how biorobotics can be used to optimize stem cell growth. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very fulfilling work,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 feel very involved in the lab, like I鈥檓 contributing to the research process.鈥
Joseph Girgis, a participant from St. Francis High School, is conducting health economics research under the supervision of Alexander Whalley. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at barriers to commercializing cancer treatments in Canada,鈥 Girgis says. 鈥淓ssentially, we鈥檙e trying to answer this question: How do we get discoveries in cancer research out of the lab and into the hands of the people who will benefit from them?鈥
Throughout HYRS, students are exposed to a variety of research areas in health sciences. 鈥淚鈥檝e worked in a biochemistry lab before, but this is a whole different side of research,鈥 Girgis says. 鈥淣ow I鈥檓 looking at what happens to the research after a discovery has been made.鈥
Joseph Girgis studied health economics under the supervision of Alexander Whalley.
Dwayne Brunner, Alberta Innovates
The overall goal of the HYRS program is to give Grade 11 students a hands-on perspective of what a career in health research looks like.
鈥淚 retain so much more from the lab than I do in the classroom,鈥 says Anchita Shonak, a HYRS participant from The Renert School in Calgary. 鈥淭he best part is being able to ask questions from more experienced people in the lab.鈥
Shonak is working in a biotherapeutics laboratory, supervised by Roman Krawetz. 鈥淚鈥檝e enjoyed every part of HYRS so far,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 recommend it highly enough!鈥
At the end of the program, HYRS students create and present a scientific poster that showcases the findings of their research projects. The posters are presented at the annual HYRS Open House, an event that celebrates the work of the students during their six weeks on campus.
鈥淭he greatest thing about HYRS is that it revealed goals to me that I never had before,鈥 Hovdestad says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 showed me what my future could actually be, and introduced me to fields that need to be explored and discovered.鈥
Shonak agrees. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned that you don鈥檛 necessarily need to be the smartest person in the room; you just need to be really passionate about something and willing to learn.鈥
This year鈥檚 Open House will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the HRIC Atrium on Foothills Campus. All are welcome to attend.
For further details about the HYRS program or the Open House event, please contact Marissa Montgomery at mlmontgo@ucalgary.ca.
Anchita Shonak was supervised by Roman Krawetz in a biotherapeutics laboratory.
Dwayne Brunner, Alberta Innovates