PITTSBURGH — Students from Pittsburgh Public Schools got a hands-on look at what it takes to be a cancer researcher on Friday.
Sixty students spent the day at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, where they got to see a working lab in action, try out equipment and talk with researchers.
Dr. Devin Dressman, associate director for the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, said opportunities like this can help get kids interested in a career in cancer research.
Dressman noted that the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman host an eight-week immersive summer research program called the UPMC Hillman Academy. High school students have gone through the program and are now starting to appear as fellows at UPMC, he said.
Students told Channel 11 that Friday’s visit helped them picture their future careers.
“I was intrigued because I’m very interested in medicinal chemistry, so I figured this would be a good experience to what that would be like in the future,” 10th grader Ayanna Hall said.
“I want to become a neurosurgeon or a psychiatrist, so just getting more experience in the medical field and just the science field in general really intrigued me,” 10th grader Josiah Chalmers said.
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