Undergraduate research opportunities are amongst the most important and influential experiences in the entire process of science education. In this initiative, the Children’s Discovery Institute leverages the extraordinary strength of the Washington University undergraduates and the unique Howard Hughes Medical Institute program for undergraduate science education established within the Department of Biology. Undergraduates selected from a competitive pool are placed in the laboratories of CDI investigators for summer research experiences. Students have the opportunity to not only participate in cutting edge research with faculty investigating mechanisms of children’s disease, but also become part of the research community by attending center meetings, presenting their work at the HHMI undergraduate research forum, and developing long-term relationships with investigators committed to child health research. Through this program, the Children’s Discovery Institute can influence a generation of pediatricians, pediatric surgeons, pediatric neurologists and researchers in many other fields relevant to the Institute’s research goals.

During the Summer of 2008, this program will support 9 undergraduate research fellows in labs in Pediatrics, Neurology, cell biology, neurosurgery where they will work on projects relevant to children’s disease.