La Jolla researchers welcome young science prospects for Stem Cell Awareness Day

It’s not every day that high school students get the chance to look at a brain organoid under a microscope or use a laser table or hear about stem cell research in microgravity.

But because stem cell research often is considered the “future of medicine,” about 100 prospective scientists from schools across San Diego County were brought to the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla this week for the third annual Stem Cell Awareness Day symposium.

The event Oct. 8 at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine featured speakers, facility tours and opportunities for hands-on learning and assisting with experiments or projects for students from Mira Mesa, Castle Park and El Camino high schools.

“This is an opportunity for us to bring in students … and for them to learn about stem cell research and the incredible work we do here and hopefully spark some interest in them to go into a … field, particularly regenerative medicine or biology … where they can help us advance stem cell research,” said Parish Jefferson, manager of the Sanford Stem Cell Discovery Center, part of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

To that end, the students could view brain organoids — artificially grown tissue structures resembling parts of the human brain.

Stem cells “can become any cell in our bodies, so we have the ability to take stem cells in their early stages and develop them into other cells … and use those cells to fight diseases,” Jefferson said.

Thus, Jefferson said, stem cell research “is at the forefront for what we can do for regenerative medicine. … It is going to help us understand and find cures for things like cancer or any type of regenerative disease that is really hard to fight. Stem cell research allows us to get ahead in that and find new innovative ways to battle these diseases.”

The visiting students were invited as part of course offerings at their schools that focus on medicine or medical biology.

“They have an interest in science already, so if we can get them here and in the lab and can learn more … and see the exciting research, they can learn more about [the scientists’] paths and hopefully spark some curiosity with them and get them interested in joining the field,” Jefferson said.

Mira Mesa High School junior Aaron Tran said he is in the biotech program at his school and that he wanted to participate in Stem Cell Awareness Day because “there is so much about stem cells that I [can and did] learn about.”

He said he got to see how stem cells are used for “actual science,” such as bringing back endangered or extinct animals and developing brain neurons to see how they respond to certain drugs or procedures.

“It’s really cool,” Aaron said.

Yang Chen, a sophomore at Castle Park High in Chula Vista, said she wanted to be part of the event to see “what actually goes on in these facilities.”

She called it a chance to “immerse myself in the science.”