Summer 2024
In the summer of 2024, we welcomed 11 high school students and 2 GW undergraduate students to CNH to participate in the METEOR program. In addition to the mentored research experience, the students had a two pronged curriculum focused on 1) neuroscience, which covered the structure and complexity of the brain, and 2) clinical research basics, which teaches METEOR students how to collect, interpret, and present data; the curriculum is supplemented by lunch-and-learns, shadowing opportunities, and “field trips” that stressed the importance of health equity. These experiences helped enrich our METEOR students’ experience in their lab to give them the foundational understandings of their research, as well as prepare them for the work they would have to put in for their final poster and presentation at the end of the program.
Many of the METEOR students had the opportunity to shadow a researcher at the hospital and experience the day-to-day that many Children’s workers have with patients, families, and medical data. Some of these experiences included shadowing both inpatient and outpatient clinics, experiencing a brain dissection, and a tour of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS located at the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus.
METEOR students spoke very highly of their experiences in the program. The students were most excited for the connections they were able to make with their peers in the program, as well as their new professional connections in their labs. Some of our METEOR students are even continuing their research in their labs after the conclusion of the program.
2024 METEOR Student Final Presentation Topics
“The Validation of the Gottingen Minipig in Pre-clinical Setting”
"Evaluating the ROUTE-T1D Pilot Intervention for Its Impact on Diabetes Distress and HbA1c in Minority Youth"
"Associations of clinical parameters with complications after arteriovenous malformation rupture"
"Foxp2 Loss in the MeA: Effects on Social Interaction in Adult Mice”
"The Cortical Interneurons of the TcMAC21 Mouse Model of Down Syndrome"
"Comorbidities in Epilepsy Patients"
"Altered organization of neuronal subtypes in the superior colliculus of Fmr1KO mice across development"
"The Impact of Maternal Obesity on the Increased Risk of Developing Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease"
“How disadvantaged neighborhoods associate with brain development in utero”
“Tissue Clearing With I-DISCO Improves 3D Reconstruction Of Golgi-Cox Stained Neurons”
“Evaluating the in-vitro Effects of TLR-7/8 Agonist POx-Resiquimod on CAR T-Cell Expansion and Cytotoxicity”
“Speaking from the Heart: Social Opportunity Influences Language Outcomes in Children with cCHD”
“Altered Ultrasonic Vocalizations in MAC21 Mice: Insights into Down Syndrome Communication Deficits”