Years ago, 16-year-old Jamie Lockwood donned a surgical gown and hair net before entering the physics lab where she was spending the summer. While most of her classmates spent the school vacation lounging around, she was busy researching how different composites of chemicals affect MRI imaging at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Lockwood was one of several high school juniors participating in the cancer hospital’s annual summer internship program, which allows them to perform research under the guidance of graduate students and post-doctoral trainees.
“The experience was amazing. I felt like I was a part of something much bigger,” said Lockwood, now 25 and employed as an organ recovery coordinator in Nashville. “I was never exposed to this level of learning in high school on a daily basis.”