Experimenting with stem cells themselves and learning more about infection research, getting to know researchers and gaining medical background knowledge – 30 upper secondary school students from Burgdorf, Lutherschule, Garbsen and IGS Wunstorf were able to experience all of this at this year’s UniStemDay on 14 March at the MHH. As in previous years, Prof. Lachmann and PD Dr. Ruth Olmer organised this Europe-wide educational day on stem cell research at the MHH. The day was supported by the DFG-funded Cluster of Excellence RESIST and the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), among others.
After an introduction to the topic of stem cells, Prof. Hoppe, PD Dr. Schukfeh and PD Dr. Zweigerdt discussed stem cell research in the context of ethics, paediatric surgery and heart disease. The young guests were then able to carry out their own stem cell research experiments in five different laboratories at the MHH on the topics of liver, lungs, gene therapy, blood and clinical research. A particularly exciting part of the day for the pupils was being able to ask questions directly to researchers – including medical students, doctors, doctoral students, technical staff and professors.
“Overall, the day was very interesting and informative for us. The enthusiasm that the professors and doctors had for their respective fields was palpable and quite infectious,” summarised the guests from the Luther School. “The various presentations from different professional fields gave us a great insight into stem cell research. We were particularly fascinated by the independent experimentation in the laboratory, which gave us practical experience and a better understanding of the subject,” said Lavinia Lenze and Janne Frankfurth from Burgdorf secondary school.
The photo shows pupils using immunofluorescence staining to identify individual cell types in the airway epithelium.