Wayne State University School of Medicine alumna Maurgan Lee, M.S. ’22, hosted a group of teachers, juniors and seniors from Southfield Christian High School, her secondary education alma mater, as part of Lee’s STEM Immersion Program, which exposes high schoolers to STEM curriculum, research and hands-on laboratory experience, and helps prepare those students for college and beyond.

As part of the visit to Scott Hall on April 21, the high schoolers received hands-on experience in the lab of Professor Paul Stemmer, Ph.D., director of the Proteomics Core Facility and professor in the Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The students received college preparatory advice from undergraduate students Fallon Norman and Ethan Janke, both Class of 2022 graduates from Southfield Christian; learned about research and science from Dr. Stemmer; and gained an understanding of how to perform a protein assay and digest a protein from Lee. They were able break down a protein, something they had never done. The students also worked with Research Associate Rita Rosati, Ph.D.

The goal is to expose students to a wide range of STEM topics that will help them in their collegiate endeavors and provide practical application comprehension on these topics, Lee said.

The students were studying AP Biology, AP Environmental Science and Organic Chemistry in the high school. Two who attended have since applied and been accepted to Wayne State for undergraduate education.

Lee co-founded the STEM Immersion Program with a professor as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and continued the outreach program at WSU with Dr. Stemmer.

As a Wayne State student, Lee worked as a researcher in the Department of Pharmacology and in Environmental Health and on a public health project, both at the School of Medicine.