ERC Students Serve as Guest Lecturers for the University of Pittsburgh Health Career Scholars Academy

        Amy Chaya, Vice President - Pitt BMES

To get involved in BMES outreach:

Contact Amy Chaya - aec28@pitt.edu

On July 13th, ERC students Andrew Brown, Amy Chaya, and Satish Singh served as guest lecturers for the University of Pittsburgh’s Health Career Scholars Academy (UPHCSA).  UPHCSA is a month-long summer program for high school students interested in health care careers.  The program introduces the students to health care, emphasizing concepts such as the health care delivery sys

tems, primary care, prevention, public health, career exploration, and healthy communities.  ERC students were able to get involved with this summer’s program by providing three 90 minute interactive lectures.  In total, 105 UPHCSA students participated in the lectures, which were designed to provide an introduction to the fields of bioengineering, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine, as well as expose students to some of the current work being done within our ERC.

Satish Singh began by providing an introduction to regenerative medicine and the concept of using resorbable metals in medicine.  He discussed basic metallurgy concepts including alloying and machining, and explained how these techniques may be used to control various properties of the material.  Andrew Brown then discussed various aspects of in vitro testing, including its overall importance in material and device testing, as well as important aspects of stem cell behavior (viability, proliferation, differentiation, etc.) and specific techniques which can be used to monitor those behaviors in response to a material.  Finally, Amy Chaya discussed in vivo testing and its pre-clinical importance in material and device testing.  She introduced different in vivo models and demonstrated how they may be used to assess various aspects of a material or device.  Students were able to pass around actual samples of ERC RMB-generated resorbable metal devices and were encouraged to ask questions throughout the lectures, helping to keep them engaged.

Overall, the event provided ERC students with an excellent opportunity for educational outreach while allowing them to practice their presentation and lecturing skills.  The UPHCSA students seemed to enjoy the interactive lectures which allowed them to stay involved throughout with open questions and discussion.  We look forward to remaining involved with UPHCSA and participating in next summer’s UPHCSA program as well.