Building a science pipeline

research, take field trips to various departments throughout Winship and to patient simulation labs in Emory’s medical school, and become grounded in published articles on cancer biology. Currently, organizers are planning opportunities for high school teachers to share a role in the program.

Brahma Natarajan, now a senior at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, worked in Winship biochemist Anita

Corbett’s lab last summer, studying the yeast cousin of a protein thought to be involved in human breast cancer. Two graduate students in the lab taught her how to run gels, perform Western blots, and create mutations in proteins.

“Now that I have experienced how a lab works, I have gotten excited about continuing research in college,” says Natarajan. “I can’t wait!” —Quinn Eastman

The high school seniors gathered in the cardiology unit at Grady Memorial Hospital got a close-up, hands-on lesson about their own hearts one afternoon this past fall. Led by Emory cardiologist and Grady cardiology chief Allen Dollar, a group of sonographers showed how echocardiography worked using several of the students as patients. “So, is this the same as ultrasound for a baby?” asked one student.

The class is part of the Pipeline program, started four years ago by two Emory medical students, Sam Funt and Zwade Marshall, at South Atlanta School of Health and Medical Sciences.

School officials credit Pipeline with stimulating interest in health science careers at South Atlanta as well as bolstering attendance and academic performance.

Beginning with a single class, the program has expanded to include classes for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Each grade level has access to a distinct curriculum with a classroom component, one-on-one mentoring by Emory undergraduates, and hands-on demonstrations. Sophomores explore infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS. Juniors study neuroscience. And seniors—who get help with college application coaching—focus on cardiology and commu -