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| Local high school students tour SFBR. |
Each year the Southwest Foundation Forum sends an invitation
and application to more than 50 teachers of advanced placement
biology and chemistry classes in San Antonio and the surrounding
areas to tour the internationally renowned facilities of
the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. Clearly,
this is a unique opportunity (and an honor) for area high
school seniors, as there are only 10 classes that are selected
(on a first-come first-serve basis). Moreover, the tour
of San Antonio's biomedical research jewel exposes these
bright young students to the exciting possibilities of a
career in science.
2009 Student Tours will be conducted on January 20, January 27, February 3, February 20, February 17, February 24, March 3, March 17, March 24, and March 31. Tours are limited
to a total of 20 persons.
The tours take place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on
Tuesdays beginning in late January through late March. Following
a warm welcome by Foundation staff and Forum representatives,
the students are treated to a video presentation offering
an overview of the Foundation, a peek into its research
laboratories and interviews with SFBR scientists about their
life-saving work on hepatitis C, heart disease, diabetes,
obesity, lung disease in premature infants and other health
problems that plague our world.
After the video, Foundation staff and Forum volunteers guide
the students around the SFBR campus, where they view the
SBC Genomics Computing Center devoted to statistical genetic
analysis, as well as the nation's only six generation, pedigreed
baboon colony, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys that are helping
scientists better understand human health and disease.
A highlight of the tour is a personal presentation by an
SFBR scientist about his or her ongoing research projects.
At the same time that students learn more about a particular
disease and the innovative ways local researchers are trying
to defeat it, they also can ask the scientists why and how
they entered their career field and what the daily work of
a scientist is like.
Truly, the student tours are a fantastic opportunity for
area high school students, and they are fun and rewarding
for Forum volunteers. Having the privilege of touring SFBR
and seeing the positive reactions from students is a phenomenal
experience, as the students are usually full of intelligent
questions and their enthusiasm for science is “contagious.”
Completed application forms can be sent to Roxana Newsom at 6 Rock Ridge Lane, San Antonio, TX 78209. If you would like more information, please email Mary Herff or Roxana
Newsom.
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