Wheaton High School students visit Jewell Lab

On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the Jewell Lab welcomed more than 50 students from Wheaton High School’s Bioscience Academy as part of the Program to Enhance Participation in Research (PEPR). The outreach initiative was founded nearly a decade ago by Robert E. Fischell Institute Professor for Translational Engineering Chris Jewell through support from his National Science Foundation CAREER award.

The visit gave students the opportunity to explore biomedical research, gain hands-on experience, and learn more about the lab’s research as well as the Fischell Institute’s mission to advance public good.

The event was organized by Jewell Lab member Ryan McIlvaine and featured several stations with hands-on demonstrations designed to immerse students in real-world lab research. One station highlighted the chemical principles of step-growth polymerization through a nylon synthesis demonstration. Another invited students to create alginate particles of varying sizes by crosslinking alginates with different viscosities.

“We’ve been doing this event for a long time, and it’s always fun,” McIlvaine said. “We’re excited to have the Fischell Institute more involved this year, bringing in new perspectives and expanding the types of activities we offer beyond our lab’s research.”

Fischell Institute and MPower Entrepreneurship Fellows Jason Chen and Elizabeth Barski led an interactive station focused on ultrasound technology. Students were challenged to identify the shape of hidden objects embedded in opaque gelatin blocks, mimicking how B-mode ultrasound is used to visualize structures within human tissue.

“It was a rewarding experience to challenge and inspire these future college students by showing them a glimpse of working with medical devices,” said Chen. “I hope these students can keep in touch with the Fischell Institute and apply to our programs, such as the Summer Research Internship and the MPower Entrepreneurship Fellowship.”

Published April 4, 2025