What you'll learn at the BioQuest Academy
By enrolling into the BioQuest Academy, you will become part of the BioQuest global health community not only for the two weeks (60 hours) that you are physically at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, but throughout your senior year of high school and beyond! You will advance your understanding and become part of the community who cares and works towards finding solutions to problems in global health and infectious diseases. The program at the BioQuest Academy can be divided into 3. We expect that students will take part in all 3 areas:
A. Week ONE of the summer BIOQUEST ACADEMY
During the first week of the BioQuest Academy, you will learn through interactive global health lectures, hands on laboratory experiences, movies and time with Seattle Biomedical Research Institute scientists the following:
- Learning about lab saftey
Learning about lab safety - Learning about Seattle Biomedical Research Institute research
Learning about Seattle Biomedical Research Institute research - How infectious diseases are transmitted
Learning about how diseases are transmitted - Learning about normal flora
Learning about normal flora - Microbiological culture techniques
Learning microbiological culture techniques - Use of a compound microscope
Using microscopes - Liquid handling (micropipetting)
Micropipetting - Malaria and Seattle Biomedical Research Institute’s malaria research
Learning about Seattle Biomedical Research Institute's malaria research - Anopheles mosquito dissection
Anopheles mosquito dissection - Learning about microarrays and gene expression
Learning about microarrays and gene expression - Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) - Agarose gel electrophoresis
Agarose gel eletrophoresis - Gram stain techniques
Gram staining - Studying pathogenic fungi and yeast
Studying pathogenic fungi - Antimicrobials, drug development and testing for resistance
Antimicrobial lab - The human immune system and vaccine development
Learning about the human immune system - Blood separation
Blood separation - ELISAs
ELISA - AIDS and Seattle Biomedical Research Institute’s AIDS research
Learning about Seattle Biomedical Research Institute's AIDS research - DNA Forensics and restriction fragment analysis
DNA Forensics - Tuberculosis and Seattle Biomedical Research Institute’s tuberculosis research
Learning about Seattle Biomedical Research Institute's tuberculosis research
B. Week TWO of the summer BIOQUEST ACADEMY
On the second week of the BioQuest Academy, students will divide into three teams. Each team will work on one of the questions listed below and learn the scientific process behind answering scientific questions using real samples from Seattle Biomedical Research Institute! Don’t worry about the big words and whether you can do this: 98% of 2009 Academy students would recommend this experience to applying kids!
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HIV team
The HIV team, hard at work: How can we measure what is the best vaccine against HIV?
We will explore this question by affinity purification of circulating HIV IgG antibodies from serum, analyzing antibody purity by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis, and by measuring antibody titers by ELISA. We will explore how to administer a vaccine that will protect against all HIV clades found throughout the world.
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Malaria team
The malaria team analyzes data: How can we determine if a malaria vaccine will be protective against all malaria parasites throughout the world? We will explore this question using the power of DNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to look at the genetic variation in DNA prepared from malaria parasites from different parts of the world. Students will determine if the protein encoded in these diverse DNA samples would be a reliable vaccine antigen to protect against worldwide malaria.
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Tuberculosis team
The tuberculosis team: How does Mycobacterium tuberculosis adapt to life inside a granuloma? We will explore this question by investigating the impact of their own, unique experimental sample conditions on a safe cousin of Mycobacterium smegmatis using molecular techniques such as mRNA extraction, cDNAsynthesis/labeling and microarray analysis. Using lab results, students will propose novel drug targets for tuberculosis.
C. POST BIOQUEST ACADEMY
We would like you to take the knowledge and inspiration gained during your time in BioQuest to your school and community and become a global health advocate. Seattle Biomedical Research Institute staff will be there to support you with your senior year steps towards biomedical college tracts and careers, including:
- Compensation for your SAT II M-Bio exam fees ($29).
- Assistance and mentorship with common senior year activities (including references, application essay support, SAT II M-Bio study sessions, local college tours).
- Support with your senior year project related to global health, public health or infectious diseases.
- Access to the BioQuest Academy online wiki community.
- In-school visits and presentations from the BioQuest team!
- Invitations to local public health and global health training sessions and lectures.
- Priority status for Seattle Biomedical Research Institute volunteering opportunities and internships.
- OST: Return to Seattle Biomedical Research Institute for continued mentorship and global health discovery (2009 students only) Click here for more info.
What is included?
- Enjoy all meals, lab materials and research notebooks during your two weeks at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute.
- And, garner $450 compensation for students completing the entire BioQuest Academy. There are no fees, no charges.
What is not included?
- Lodging for distant applicants or participants.
- Parking in downtown Seattle location.
