High school students spend summer on campus learning medical research skills

Biomedical and health-related research laboratories at the University of Calgary have opened their doors to host 22 Alberta high school students as part of this year’s Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (AIHS-HYRS) program.

AIHS-HYRS is an intensive summer science program that provides exceptional Grade 11 students with the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience in a laboratory setting. Each student is matched with a faculty researcher at the university, and completes a six-week research project with that researcher during July and August. This year each of the 22 selected students have been awarded a $2,500 stipend from Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions for their work during the program.

Students are selected for the AIHS-HYRS program through a rigorous application process that includes a series of questions regarding the student’s research interests, future career goals, an essay, and references from high school teachers and a member of the community. This year, an adjudication committee comprised of postdoctoral fellows and high school science teachers reviewed a total of 163 applications from 50 different high schools across central Alberta.

'It was an honour to be accepted'

Fatima Iqbal, a student at the Calgary Islamic School, is part of this year’s AIHS-HYRS cohort. Iqbal is the first student from her school to be selected for the program.

“My school is very tiny, so it was an honour to be accepted,” Iqbal says. “There are only 40 students in my grade, and only three of us applied for the program.”

An aspiring pediatric surgeon, Iqbal was matched with Dr. Naweed Syed, a long-term mentor for the AIHS-HYRS program. Dr. Syed has been a mentor for 17 years, since Alberta Innovates launched the HYRS program.

Iqbal's research project involves measuring the growth patterns of nerve cells in the nerve cell clusters located near the spinal cord, called dorsal root ganglia, that collect and transmit messages of pain and touch from other parts of the body to the spinal cord, after they have been exposed to certain anaesthetics at a young age.

She says the ultimate goal of the project is to understand how early exposure to anaesthesia affects the neural development of children later in life. “Essentially, we’re trying to answer this question: If you apply anaesthetics to children at a young age, to what extent are you damaging their brains long-term?”

Experiencing the day-to-day life of a reseacher

The overall goal of the AIHS-HYRS program is to give Grade 11 students a first-hand perspective of what the day-to-day life of a medical researcher looks like.

“The hands-on experience in HYRS is really, really good,” Iqbal says. “A lot of things that I would not have understood by textbook in the classroom I can understand by actually doing it in the lab.”

In addition to their research projects, AIHS-HYRS students participate in a series of workshops, panels and tours of various research facilities throughout the summer.

At the end of the program, students also create and present a scientific poster that showcases the findings of their research projects. The posters are presented at the annual AIHS-HYRS Open House, an event that celebrates the work of the students during their six weeks on campus.

“For me, HYRS is exactly how I thought it would be, and I’m really enjoying it for that reason,” Iqbal says. “I’d love to continue research like this throughout my undergraduate degree.”

Work to be showcased at an open house

This year’s Open House will take place on August 23 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 AIHS-HYRS program or the Open House event, please contact Alexandra Kanters at alexandra.kanters1@ucalgary.ca