By C. H. Barton
Special to Inside
Top science students from Lincoln Park High School, all science fair winners, spent yesterday afternoon at
Children's Research Center, part of Children's Memorial Hospital. Students looked at brain cells through an electron microscope and in three dimensions on a confocal microscope—equipment not seen outside major universities. Then they saw how a scientist uses computer technology to do gene mapping of a brain tumor. Students even helped conduct a DNA analysis.
Children's Research Center, part of Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research, is located at 2430 N. Halsted St.
The visit was designed to expose students to career possibilities in science and research. In general, young people are not entering the research field because they want to see immediate results, and that's not the case with research.
External funding for research at Children's Memorial has more than doubled in the last five years, growing from $6.4 million in 1996 to $18 million in 2002. To accommodate the growth, a 52,000 square foot expansion is under way and will be completed by early 2004.
For more information, contact Julie Pesch at (773) 880-4500.
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