Oncofertility Summer Research Experience 2009

With support from the federal stimulus package Northwestern received from the National Cancer Institute, two teachers and two undergraduates gained hands-on experience in a working lab devoted to providing new fertility options for cancer patients!

The money allowed Northwestern to bring relevant lab activities to teachers around the country and bring girls through the pipeline toward careers in science.

This video gives you an idea of what the experience was like. Check out the job summary to see if you or someone you know would be interested in doing it next summer:

http://www.osep.northwestern.edu/osep/summerfellowship/
http://www.research.northwestern.edu/

The Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Partnerships in the School of Education (OSEP) at NU is excited that a second high school biology teacher, David Bain, from Grayslake North High School in Illinois, will also be participating in the Onco internships. We look forward to seeing what kinds of real-world activities the teachers will come up with to take back to the classroom. Just as the teachers and college students will get research mentoring, the students will also benefit professionally from working side-by-side with the teachers. Among the first stimulus dollars Northwestern is getting from the National Cancer Institute, the money allows Northwestern to pursue two important goals: bring relevant lab activities to teachers around the country and bring girls through the pipeline toward careers in science. “It’s great to be able to use stimulus funding to provide four full-time paid summer positions at a time when any summer employment is difficult to find. We suspect that one day these young women will be engaged in careers in science and will look back at their summer positions as instrumental in launching them on a path to success,” said Kemi Jona, director of OSEP.

Click here to see the press release at NORTHWESTERN NEWS:
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2009/06/stimulus.html

Click here to see another blog post about the internships: http://blog.oncofertility.northwestern.edu/2009/06/northwestern-stimulus-funding/

I’m the project director for the Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Partnerships (referred to as “OSEP”) in the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. My MA is in linguistics from Columbia University and my BA is in communications theory with a concentration in media studies from New York University; I am currently pursuing an MBA. My background is in academic publishing and marketing. I work with Dr. Kemi Jona, who is director of OSEP and a co-PI (principal investigator) on the Oncofertility project. His title is Learning Strategist, School of Continuing Studies and Research Associate Professor, Learning Sciences. Liaison to NU’s PR office and other NU departments, as well as Oncofertility’s ONSEN partners, I coordinate marketing and publishing efforts for OSEP’s work in education.