Erie Niagara AHEC and University at Buffalo celebrate the SEPA Student Capstone Event!

University at Buffalo’s Medical Campus was full of excitement on Wednesday, May 21st, as high school students from across New York State gathered to present their research and hard work at the NIH SEPA Metagenomics Education Partnership Capstone Event! The NIH Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) grant has been awarded to UB for 11 years, and is slated to return for another year!  

In this program, high school students from participating schools across NYS work with UB investigators to collect samples from local waterways at the beginning of the program cycle in September. After filtering the water and growing colonies of bacteria, students worked with UB to extract DNA from the microbes and used a DNA database to add to genomes being constructed. This process allows students to work with leaders in the field of metagenomics and gives them an early experience of research in STEM.  

Early experiences in research can help grow confidence in foundational competencies which will help students be successful in university and when beginning careers. During this program, students had the opportunity to attend development events such as CPR certification trainings and the Pathways to Medicine event, a hands-on day at UB Jacobs School of Medicine. 

The Capstone Event is the students’ opportunity to showcase their efforts and all that they learned about metagenomics in the process. We are so proud to see students feel empowered and confident in sharing their research! Programs like SEPA are fundamental to student success in STEM, and we are happy to be a part of this effort!