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District High School Students Participate in Cancer Research at The Ohio State University
August 10, 2021 -- This summer, seven Columbus City Schools students got paid $2,400 to work with research teams at the James Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Ohio State University.
“I learned complex science that I wouldn’t learn in a regular high school classroom,” said Cayla Broady, a West High School senior. “I studied the Epstein Barr virus on weaker immune systems. This summer, we explored ways to create a vaccine to stop the spread of cancer.”
That high-level, intense learning for Broady and the other District high school students is the goal of the Center for Cancer Mentoring, Education, Leadership, and Oncology-Related Training (CAMELOT) at Ohio State. The program serves as the centralized hub fostering cancer research and education for all learners and disseminating those opportunities across the university.
“We need to start the pipeline of medicine and science earlier than med school,” said Dr. Rob Baiocchi, an Ohio State professor of Medicine who runs the physician-scientist program for Ohio State undergraduates and high schools.
Baiocchi works with Dr. Yolanda Stewart, the assistant principal at West High School who oversees the STEM Program at West. Dr. Stewart worked with Baiocchi to get Broady and four other West High School students into the summer internship program at Ohio State this summer.
“I studied the immune system of mice to try to isolate three overexpressed genes that cause cancer,” said high school senior Kahlil Smith. “At the beginning of the summer, the work was hard for sure, but it got easier after talking with the mentors and scientists.”
Dr. Lawrence Kirschner, the associate director of education and training at the James Comprehensive Cancer Center, was instrumental in building the summer program to recruit high school students from schools all over Franklin County.
“In their high school science classroom, students know the experiment will work, well, most of the time,” Lawrence Kirschner said jokingly. “In a real lab, we are constantly exploring and trying to figure it out because we don’t know what will happen. That’s what these students got to experience this summer. If we want a diverse workforce, the only way to do that is to put these students in the actual environment.”
In eight short weeks, the summer program at Ohio State gave Eastmoor Academy 2021 graduate Haley Warren clarity about her future.
“I want to be a pediatrician, and that will require research,” said Warren, who plans to attend Howard University, an HBCU, as a freshman this fall. “During my internship, I researched the Mitochondria. I worked with mentors, but I had to learn how to research and figure things out myself. It made me a better independent scientist.”
At the end of the summer internship, Ohio State held a reception for the students, their families, doctors, researchers, and mentors to celebrate the difference the experience has had on these young minds.
“While I don’t understand everything Cayla did this summer, one thing is clear,” said Alisha Broady, Cayla’s stepmom. “Her future is hopeful and promising as doors are being opened for her.”
Dr. Rob Baiocchi looked around the room and thought, next summer, he wants to recruit more high school students from West High School next year.
Congratulations to all the CCS students for completing the summer internship program at The James Comprehensive Cancer Center. Except for Hayley Warren, who just graduated, all will be seniors in the 2021-2022 school year.
- Sydney Stewart (Columbus Alternative High School)
- Haley Warren (Eastmoor Academy)
- Cayla Broady (West High School)
- Davia Dixon (West High School)
- Kahlil Smith (West High School)
- Kailie Mong (West High School)
- Mia Williams (West High School)