Six
senior students visited the Fedorchak Lab at the Eye and Ear Institute at the
University of Pittsburgh on Thursday, April 28th. Taylor Boring, Rachael Genesi, Shane Hunt,
Hannah McGlynn, Ian Ostrowski, and Hannah Swope were chosen to participate in
the event from a very competitive group of students interested in science and
engineering.
The
lab that the students toured is named after Dr. Morgan Fedorchak who is a
professor of Ophthalmology, Chemical Engineering, and Clinical and
Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine and
the Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration.
The goal of the Fedorchak Lab is the development of materials that
restore or protect the gift of sight. Dr.
Fedorchak is the daughter of our superintendent Dr. DiLeo who graciously set up
this experience for our students.
Dr. Fedorchak started
the morning by presenting about career options and pathways in the fields of
science and engineering. She went on to
share information about different cutting edge research projects that she has
been involved in. Dr. Fedorchak focused
on her current research involving ocular drug delivery for glaucoma patients. She took our students on a tour of her lab
and had an experiment based on her current research set up for the kids to
participate in. Dr. Fedorchak also took
the students on a tour of some other labs in the Engineering Department at the
University of Pittsburgh.
The students had a
lot of great questions for Dr. Fedorchak, and she provided them with excellent
answers and insight on many different STEM related topics. It was an amazing opportunity for our
students to see cutting edge research in action! The kids thoroughly enjoyed the
experience. Thank you to Dr. Fedorchak,
Dr. DiLeo, and Mrs. McDermott for making this event happen!
