With files from St. Boniface Hospital Research Albrechtsen Research Centre and Youth BIOlab
A group of Grade 11 and 12 students with a keen interest in science recently had the opportunity to learn in one of the Western Canadian hubs of medical research.
The Student Leadership in Biomedical Science program brings students to St. Boniface Hospital's Albrechtsen Research Centre for four days of focused instruction and lab-work over a two-week period.
The centre's Youth BIOlab offers students a unique biomedical teaching laboratory, where they can experience how research scientists tackle many of the major medical challenges facing humankind, such as heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and a host of other maladies.
WSD has partnered with the Youth BIOlab since it opened six years ago, to provide students who are passionate about science with a more focused learning experience. Twenty-five students from across WSD are selected by their school science departments to participate.
"This lab is set up so we can do a lot of things that you just can't do in your high school science lab," said BIOlab Director Steve Jones. "It puts students in touch with what scientists here in this building are doing on a daily basis."
Students are connected with research scientists from the centre's major divisions: the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders, the Canadian Centre for Agri-food Research in Health and Medicine, and Clinical Research.
"We want them to see the process. How we go from a question about health to actually testing something with a dish of cells to teach us about health," Mr. Jones said.
