Cancer Institute hosts high school students for cancer research, oncology career event

Kristin Eckert, PhD, associate director of the Penn State Cancer Institute Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination Core, stands with colleague Douglas Stairs, PhD, at a pathology station where students viewed normal cells and diseased tissues under microscopes, compared scanned computer images with real tissue samples and discussed the Stairs lab’s research using these samples for new cancer drug discovery.

Penn State Cancer Institute‘s Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC) Core teamed up with the PA Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC) to introduce 15 students from Lebanon High School to cancer research and discuss careers in science and health care at a program on March 29.

The event was part of the coalition’s Community Advocacy and Research Education for Students Program, which is designed for high school students grades 10-12 to further their knowledge of breast cancer, careers in research and health care and breast cancer awareness and advocacy as a community service.

Representatives from Penn State College of Medicine’s Simulation Center, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the MD/PhD Program, and the Oncology, Nutrition and Exercise group hosted stations where students learned about topics ranging from pathology and cancer research to breast exams, imaging and the applications of exercise for cancer treatment.

To Learn more about CRTEC’s mission to develop innovative programs to foster scientific growth at all levels of the cancer research career pipeline, visit their webpage.

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