Training inspires student researchers

ore than 30 students interested in devoting their lives to science and medicine shared findings from their summer research on August 3 at a poster session at Helen Wood Hall.

Each summer, Strong Children's Research Center at Children's Hospital at Strong offers qualified students an opportunity to work with a biomedical researcher in a laboratory or clinic. While the students get hands-on experience in their field of interest, researchers benefit by having the assistance of an interested student. Students who participate in the training program receive a stipend of $250 per week. The program is open to University and non-University undergraduates and medical students.

"We have had more than 400 students participate in this program," said Richard Insel, director of the research center and the 10-year-old Summer Training Program. "This year we have 31 students, many of whom are from the Rochester area." Those 31 students represent the 20 percent of applicants that were accepted into this year's program.

The training program inspires many of its participants to pursue professional careers in medicine and research, including specialties in pediatrics. Students taking part in the summer program often try to pitch their research to different publications. Their experience, along with the exposure that having research published provides, sometimes gives students the inside track as they apply for medical school.

"We have a lot of publications that have resulted from students' research over the summer," Insel said. "For a lot of them, I think it does help them get admitted to medical school."

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