STEM Students Shadow Sanford Burnham Scientists

By: Paula Checchi, Ph.D.

On November 17th, the Institute celebrated STEM Shadow Day, hosting nearly forty young scholars from underrepresented backgrounds from San Diego and Imperial County high schools as well as students from San Diego State University, San Diego City College, and Southwestern Community College A collaboration between the San Diego MESA Alliance and several of Sanford Burnham Prebys’ Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committees, the goal of the event was to provide visiting students a unique experience to tour labs and engage with trainees, faculty and staff at our Institute, thus witnessing the “real world” of work in a scientific environment.

An anonymous follow-up survey of attendees revealed 84% of attendees were more interested in pursuing STEM as a direct result of their participation in the event, and 92% reported wanting to complete an internship at Sanford Burnham Prebys. Importantly, 100% of attendees specified the event solidified intent to pursue a STEM degree. Of the experience, one attendee remarked:

“Sanford Burnham Prebys is the trailblazer for upcoming discoveries using state-ofthe-art technology. I would have never thought that a company would use AI, Virtual Reality headsets, and even sonar technology to better equip the team. Also, Sanford Burnham Prebys really puts in the effort for inclusivity, and diversity on the team. All of the labs were run by people all over the world. I felt seen and would love to work with them."

Special thanks to our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Alessandra Sacco, workshop leaders Milagro Ramos & Kevin Brown, our California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)-funded SPARK interns, Education & Training DEI Committee members and the following graduate & postdoctoral trainees for presenting posters: Dr. Karina Barbosa Guerra, Tatiana Moreno, Dr. Valeria Guglielmi, Rachael McVicar, Dr. Shanshan Yin, Paloma Sánchez Pavón, Yu-Ling (Linda) Chang, & Michaela Lynott.