Advancing Student Participation in Research Excellence (ASPIRE) is a program for rising high school seniors with a passion for medicine and research. This six-week program is held over the summer at Saint Louis University's Doisy Research Center.
The dates for this program are flexible: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. between Monday through Friday, June 3 to Aug. 26. The application deadline is Friday, April 26.
Discover the awe of science, and prepare for college and life success.
Program Benefits
- One-on-one mentorship
- Live the life of a scientist at work
- Opportunity to attend and present at weekly lab meetings
- Prepare an abstract and possibly a manuscript
- Present at departmental research colloquium
- Prizes for top scoring presentations
- Mid-rotation evaluation
- Certificate of completion
Program Components
- Introduction to research methodologies
- Rigor and reproducibility in science
- Hands-on experience in internationally recognized labs
Project Examples
- Learn ELISA, qPCR, H&E, immunohistochemistry, serum chemistry analysis
- Assessing heart and liver injury through immunohistochemistry
- Observe basic science animal and cell culture work
- Understand enzyme replacement and gene therapy for rare diseases like mucopolysaccharidosis
- Understand iron metabolism and its modulation
- Microbiota transplantation
- Use of novel PROTECT system to assess Ischemia-reperfusion injury
- Validating cholestatic injury in DREAM
- Novel therapeutics for alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency
- Lung injury prevention strategies
- Prepare parenteral nutrition solution
- Help understand and prepare organoids