4th Annual Explore Genetics Program for High School Students

 

REQUIREMENTS

Required materials include the student application form, one teacher recommendation and a current school transcript. 

 

RECOMMENDATION

The teacher recommendation may include the following: in what capacity the teacher has overseen the student; how long the teacher has known the student; the first words that come to mind to describe the student; a description of academic performance and/or personal characteristics; any information that would help to differentiate the student from others.  The recommendation should be no longer than one page. Teachers should send recommendations directly to Rebecca Rehm. An email message is perfectly acceptable. 

 

TRANSCRIPT

The school transcript should show coursework and grades/outcomes for grades 9, 10 and 11. An official transcript from the school is preferable but not required. 

 

DEADLINES

The deadline for receiving completed application materials is Friday, March 26.  Decisions will be emailed to students at the end of April.  Those students who are offered admission must accept their place in the program in early May.  If there are any spaces remaining, wait listed students will be accepted by mid-May.  All decisions will be finalized by late May. 

 

PARTICIPANTS

We are looking for 15 strong students who have a good understanding of basic genetics and are enthusiastic about learning more and meeting new people. The program has been designed for the summer after a student’s junior year in high school, but exceptions may be made. Current juniors who have a solid background in biology, have a record of academic success and have participated in extracurricular activities related to science or healthcare will have the best chance of being admitted to the program. In addition, an effort will be made to bring together a diverse group of students, where, ideally, each student comes from a different school.  Students do not have to have a parent or guardian affiliated with Partners HealthCare to apply or attend. 

 

SUBMISSION

All materials should be sent to Rebecca Rehm at rrehm@partners.org, faxed to 617-525-4488 or mailed to 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Suite 250, Boston, MA 02115. Email submission is strongly encouraged. 

Click here for the application. 

 
 

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Who Attends?
Over the past three years, 40 high school students from the Boston area and beyond have attended the Explore Genetics program.  They have come from public, charter, private and parochial schools, including the following:

Andover High School Arlington Catholic High School Billerica Memorial High School Boston Arts Academy Boston College High School Boston Collegiate Charter School Boston Latin School Boston University Academy Brookline High School Buckingham Browne & Nichols Cambridge Rindge and Latin School

Cushing Academy East Boston High School Lexington High School Maimonides School Malden Catholic High School Martin Luther King Jr. High Milton Academy Newton North High School Northfield Mount Hermon School Our Lady of Nazareth Academy Peabody Veterans Memorial High

Phillips Academy, Andover Pope John XXII High School Revere High School Sharon High School Somerville High School St. Clement Jr./Sr. High School Stoughton High School The Winsor School Wellesley High School Winchester High School

An Explore Genetics Graduate
Paige Coles, a senior honors student at Saint Clement Jr./Sr. High School in Medford, Massachusetts, attended Explore Genetics in July of 2009.  Paige wrote her college application essay (below) about her experience in the program, and she and the program were featured in a news article in the Medford Transcript in December of 2009 (click here for the article). 

College Application Essay by Paige Coles

The evaluation said, “The genetic counselor was great! She should be a genetic counselor in real life!” I was that genetic counselor. That was my fifteen minutes of fame. Someone in a crowd of 30 personal health care professionals, 10 rising high school seniors, 1 Harvard Medical School professor, and my mom believed in me. And I know it wasn’t my mom this time, because the review wasn’t in her hand writing.

 

I was presenting in a role-play about a patient diagnosed with Marfan syndrome during the third annual Explore Genetics program at Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine. In the presentation, I portrayed a genetic counselor, and I guided a distraught patient and his confused family through the diagnosis and prognosis of this disease, which could lead to a grave heart condition. With my team, I researched signs of Marfan syndrome and we practiced the presentation for days.

 

Never before had I felt so in-my-element. Speaking in front of that assembly of people about how Marfan syndrome is passed down throughout a family, and consoling the fictional family of the patient I had just “diagnosed,” I felt intelligent and compassionate. Through the Explore Genetics program in general, I was afforded an advantage over other students who are competing for a place in the medical field.  Explore

Genetics completely convinced me that I want to be a doctor researching genetic diseases.

 

I had aspired to be a part of Explore Genetics since my sophomore year. My science teacher of three years recommended me for the program. I applied, but I was put on the wait list because the program was actually meant for high school juniors. Determined to be a part of the program in the following year, I e-mailed the director of the program for the next year so that she would remember me, and when it came time to register for the program again, I was ready. I filled out my application, asked for another recommendation, and wrote a meaningful essay about why I wanted to study genetics.

Then, after a selective process, I was one of 15 students from the Boston area to be accepted to the program. I was absolutely giddy upon receiving this news. All of my hard work had paid off. Every disappointment leading up to this point was erased from my memory.

The Explore Genetics program was an active learning event. I considered what I would do if I were put in the shoes of patients with genetic diseases in certain situations. As a participant, I gained an extensive knowledge of genetics through applied laboratory work, specialist panels, and group tasks. I learned basic laboratory etiquette, and worked well with others. Talking with specialists in the field of genetics gave me the opportunity to ask questions about treatments for genetics diseases. Through partnerships with the Broad Institute and Biogen Idec and within Partners’ own facilities, I spent two full days in the laboratory executing experiments and learning techniques. During the program, I was able to shadow a geneticist and learn what a day in her life is like.

 

I engaged with a Harvard Medical School faculty member about the latest research and cases in forensic genetics. We talked about how the police can track down criminals with their siblings’ DNA that may be in databases from their being pulled over for speeding or other misdemeanors. As the professor told his intriguing stories, I listened raptly, entranced by his ingeniousness. I asked questions that no one else had thought of, which he thought were impressive.   I learned so much from the Explore Genetics program, such as how to model a detailed pedigree on the computer and how to perform gel electrophoresis. However, something that couldn’t be learned, something I felt, was a sense of belonging and purpose. Just like that audience member who could see that I belonged behind that desk talking with that family, I could see that that was where I was headed. My purpose was so strong that I think more people than my mom noticed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

ATTIRE
Students are expected to maintain appropriate appearance and dress.  Open-toed shoes, flip flops, shorts and short skirts are not allowed in the lab for safety reasons.

CONTACT

If students need to be reached during the program, anyone may call Amy Brainerd, the Genome Center Administrative Assistant, at 617-768-8482 or Rebecca Rehm, the program coordinator, at 508-963-8162 (cell). If students are running late one morning, they should contact Amy or Rebecca as well. 

COST

There is no cost to attend this program. 

 

DATES

The program will run July 15^th and 16^th and the week of July 19^th to 23^rd.
 

DIRECTIONS

The Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine (PCPGM) is located at the Partners Research Building at 65 Landsdowne Street in Cambridge, MA. (Please note that this is different from Lansdowne Street near Fenway Park in Boston.) Directions can be found on our website at pcpgm.partners.org/directions.jsp. Once you reach the building, enter through the front doors facing the rock garden. Immediately turn right and proceed through the glass doors to the large conference room straight ahead, room 103A. 

 

IDENTIFICATION

Students will receive a name badge sticker each day, which they should wear all day both for identification within the building and for getting to know other students and staff.

 

LOCATIONS

The students will begin and end each day at 65 Landsdowne Street in Cambridge. On a number of days, we will take field trips to other facilities. These will include the Broad Institute at 7 Cambridge Center in Cambridge, Biogen Idec at 15 Cambridge Center in Cambridge, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) at 250 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge and Boston University School of Medicine’s CityLab at 801 Albany Street in Boston. 

 

MEALS

Lunch will be provided each day at no charge. Students are welcome to bring a beverage in the morning, e.g., water, tea, coffee, or bring their own snack or lunch if they would prefer, but we will have healthy, tasty options that we hope will accommodate everyone’s dietary needs.

 

PARENTS

We welcome parents/guardians to come inside in the mornings to meet the program coordinator and see the Explore Genetics meeting space (although we cannot accommodate the parents on lab tours). Students will be making presentations on the last morning of the program, and parents/guardians are invited to attend these as well. 

 

PARKING

There is a parking garage at 80 Landsdowne Street across from the Partners Research Building where the validated rate is $18/day. It is sometimes possible to find street parking as well.

 

PARTICIPANTS

There will be 15 students in the program. Most, if not all, will be rising high school seniors. It is likely that each student will be from a different school in the Boston area.  Students do not have to have a parent or guardian affiliated with Partners HealthCare to apply or attend.  
 

PHONES

Please keep cell phones and other electronic equipment off or in silent mode during the program hours, including lunch. Students may use devices during breaks, if necessary. 

 

PREPARATION

It is assumed that students have a good understanding of basic genetics.  If students would like to brush up on genetics terminology, we suggest visiting the website(s) for one or more of these groups: National Human Genome Research Institute, 23andMe and Navigenics. 

 

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions, please contact the program coordinator, Rebecca Rehm, at rrehm@partners.org or 617-525-4566 before the start of the program. After this time, use the Contact information above.

 

RESOURCES

Participants will be exposed to topics related to genetics, genetic diseases and genetic testing, and genetic counselors are available if, at any time, anyone feels uncomfortable with any information or has any questions or concerns. 

 

SCHEDULE

The program will run each day 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except for the last day of the program, which will most likely end at 2:00 p.m. (this will be confirmed at a later date).  We will begin promptly each day, so we appreciate students arriving a few minutes early to get settled before we start. We expect students to remain on campus to the end of each day.

 

SECURITY

The Partners Research Building is a secure building open Monday through Friday to employees and visitors with identification. Security personnel are on-duty in the building at all times. Although students will spend most of their time in conference room 103A that has been reserved exclusively for the program, they will go to rooms on other floors as well. Students may choose to leave belongings in the main conference room, but we suggest students refrain from bringing valuables to the program and carry all necessary valuables on them at all times. There are lockers on the third floor of the building for which a student may bring in a lock if they choose to use one. 

 

STAFF

Meet the staff you may encounter at PCPGM at pcpgm.partners.org. Click on any group on the left, then PEOPLE for names, photos and titles of our staff members.

 

TRANSPORTATION

Participants are responsible for their own transportation to and from the program. The closest MBTA station is the Central Square Station where the Red Line stops, which is about a 10-minute walk from the building. There are also Partners shuttles from Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to 65 Landsdowne Street. We will be walking or using public transportation to travel to other laboratory locations a number of times during the program.  We would be happy to try to arrange for an alternative form of transportation to these labs if necessary for any students. 

Contact
Contact Rebecca Rehm, the program coordinator, with any questions at rrehm@partners.org or 617-525-4566.  


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