On March 11, the annual One Day Closer event was held by the Rogel Cancer Center. The goal of One Day Closer is to give the Rogel Cancer Center faculty and trainee community an opportunity to engage high school students and inspire them to become future scientists. This event hopes to spark attendees’ interest in cancer research, care, and prevention.

More than seventy high school students and their chaperones joined the event. Students began the day hearing from a faculty and staff career panel, then participated in lab tours organized by Noah Puleo, a Ph.D. student in the Molecular and Cellular Pathology program; a mock tumor board led by Samuel Reynolds, M.D.; and a hands-on DNA extraction experiment led by Megan Radyk, Ph.D. Read more about this year’s speakers, volunteers, and activities in our virtual program.

A post-event survey of student attendees indicated that an overwhelming majority were more interested in a career in research and/or medicine after attending One Day Closer. A few comments from the surveys indicated that the students truly enjoyed themselves.

“The Mock Tumor Board was so interactive, informative and fun!”

“I really enjoyed this program and wish to continue joining in more programs for High School Students. It really helped me understand the different medical fields as well (in terms of cancer).”

“Excellent program. Loved meeting with the doctors and hearing the experiences they've had. They were all very friendly and inclusive.”

If you are interested in helping with next year’s event, please reach out to the TrEC team at RogelTrEC@med.umich.edu. You can also find more information about the event at https://rogeltrainees.med.umich.edu/trainees/k-12/one-day-closer.