By Eliza Dysart
High school students from MAST Academy in Miami visited the UF Health Cancer Institute for a two-day program to gain hands-on experience with cancer research and explore careers in science.
The visit, held March 9-10, brought together students in grades 10 through 12 for presentations, research facility tours and laboratory workshops led by UF graduate student ambassadors and researchers. The program, sponsored in part by the UF Health Cancer Institute’s Cancer Education and Training Program, aimed to give students an immersive experience outside the classroom and expose them to real-world scientific research.
One of the highlights of the visit was a gel electrophoresis workshop, where students examined DNA mutations linked to certain types of breast cancer.
“This workshop in particular is to look into DNA mutation,” said Adriana Del Pino Herrera, a fifth-year graduate student in biomedical engineering and UF Health Cancer Institute Ambassador. “Essentially, we do gel electrophoresis to be able to identify DNA mutations in different samples.”
The workshops originally began as part of the Cancer Institute’s annual Cancer Research Conference for Science Teachers, which allows educators to learn laboratory techniques and bring those experiences back to their classrooms.
“From that, some of the teachers expressed interest in bringing their high school students to do these workshops here,” Del Pino Herrera said.
Noemi Soto, a science teacher at MAST Academy, first learned about the program through a professional development opportunity offered to teachers.
“The entire experience was very immersive,” Soto said. “I learned so many ways to provide my students with hands-on experiences in the classroom.”
After attending the summer conference, Soto said she was inspired to bring similar experiences to her students. She later created a microbiology honors course at her school and began developing its curriculum.
Soto reached out to the program’s organizers in September to explore the possibility of bringing her students to the UF campus.
“I took their advice seriously,” Soto said. “They told us that if there was anything they could do or if a high school wanted to visit, we could work together.”
The visit included presentations from graduate students studying cancer biology, molecular biology and epidemiology, as well as tours of research facilities, including the UF Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research.
The goal of the trip was to help students see opportunities in science beyond the classroom and understand that pursuing a career in research is possible.
“I wanted them to have the same opportunity I had,” Soto said. “They need to see that a path in science is not the same for everyone, but that it’s possible.”
