N.C. A&T, Merck Introduce High School Students to Biotechnology

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Oct. 9, 2024) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, hosted a five-day biotechnology camp for 12 high school students at the Merck Biotechnology Learning Center located at the Gateway Research Park South Campus.

The camp is a result of N.C. A&T and Merck’s ongoing partnership efforts to provide teaching, research and engagement opportunities not just to faculty and students on campus, but to young scientists in the local community.

“I believe that the camp helped the students learn more about the biotechnology industry, in general, and biochemistry/molecular biology, in particular,” said Nathan F. Simms Distinguished Professor Robert H. Newman, Ph.D., in A&T’s College of Science and Technology (CoST). “They were introduced to concepts and techniques that they can build on in the future as they pursue careers in bioscience research.”

Specifically, the students learned how to express, purify and analyze recombinant proteins through hands-on activities for a guided research project and as parallel, they participated in professional development activities that introduced them to biotechnology careers.

The students also developed their scientific communications skills, which included learning how to present a research poster effectively and how to explain their research in a short, elevator speech.

“By engaging in authentic research throughout the program and honing their scientific communication skills, the students were able to grow in their scientific self-efficacy,” said Newman. “Hopefully, the program will be a catalyst for the students as they continue to grow as researchers and as people.”

Most of the camp participants – Chandler Pearson, Megan Jackson, Cheick Amadou, Favour Faleye, Ayesha Mehreen, Oliver Miller, Mekhi Norwood and Kaleb Roland – were from the greater Greensboro area. The others were Wilhelmena Johnson of Raleigh, North Carolina, Poshika Prabu of Apex, North Carolina, Sydney Williams of Dallas and Miles Wooden of Atlanta.

“The biotech camp was very enjoyable and educational! It cemented biochemistry as my intended career choice,” said Faleye.

“Thank you for the informative and fun week of biochemistry. Although I clearly still have much to learn, I feel as though a possible field in the area isn't as unreachable as I initially thought,” said Roland. “It will definitely be on my list of future careers."

Organizers were somewhat surprised to receive applications from students across the country, but that further proved that there is growing interest in the field.

Facilitators were B. Miles Baker, M.S., Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellow and graduate student in CoST’s Applied Science and Technology Ph.D. program; Rosalind Dale, Ed.D., vice provost for outreach and engagement; and Stephanie Goodrich, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow in the Newman Lab.