2020 Atlanta Camp

Atlanta Computational Biology Camp for High School Students at Georgia Tech

miRcore-name

This camp is for academically motivated current (2019-20) high school and incoming 9th grade students interested in computer, math, science, and medicine. The camp will focus on the role of genomics in diseases and symptoms and guide students in performing computational biology research using patient RNA expression data to identify genes related to certain diseases. There will be a separate basic genomics session to accommodate students who have not taken first year high school biology. Students will learn basic AI concepts in identifying diseases.

DATE: June 1-5, 2020

TIME: 9 am – 4 pm, Eastern time

LOCATION: Clough Undergraduate Commons, Georgia Institute of Technology (266 Fourth St NW, Atlanta GA 30332)  Online

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Academically motivated current (2019-20) high school and incoming 9th grade students interested in computers, math, science, and medicine.

FEE: $540 (Basic membership is included for all campers.)

After reviewing your essay in the registration form, we will inform you regarding acceptance within 5 business days. If accepted, you will be sent payment options. Limited partial scholarships are available for financially-challenged students such as those in a free or reduced lunch program. Proof of income is required.

If you have a regular membership and this is the first camp: $460.00.

You may want to consider regular membership.

Bring a laptop and lunch (morning and afternoon snacks provided).

REGISTRATION FEE: $25 (your registration is finalized after the fee is received).

Registration

 
FEATURED SPEAKER: Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH (June 2, 11 am) [click here for reading material]

Students with camp certificates will be qualified to become miRcore volunteers. Students in the high school volunteer program, which runs throughout the school year, determine a disease of focus for the year, collaborate with similar level students in researching the disease, and lead a school club GIDAS (pronounced guide-us; Genes in Diseases and Symptoms). Out-of-state students can join the volunteer meetings through an online meeting platform.

Goals

  1. Expose high school students to career opportunities in biomedicine through hands-on experience in computational genomics and prepare them for the emerging era of medical genomics, when all doctors must be well-acquainted with genetic discoveries, technologies, and applications.
  2. Identify potential GIDAS (Genes In Diseases And Symptoms) club leaders at their schools.

 
Specific Aims

  1. Differentiate gene entities (DNA, RNA, and proteins) and understand the mechanisms of gene expression (transcription and translation).
  2. Understand genetic biomarkers in a disease context and the effects of environmental factors such as exercise, food consumption, substance abuse, and medication.
  3. Learn about personalized medicine (or precision medicine).
  4. Become familiar with the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, software package, and UCSC Genome Browser.

Typical daily activities

9:00 – 10:00 am   test and review, games
10:00 – 11:00 am   lectures covering specific aims, snacks
11:00 – noon   hands-on activities in genomics
noon – 1:00 pm   lunch
1:00 – 2:00 pm   computer-based guided investigation in genomics, games
2:00 – 3:00 pm   individual research on a disease using computational genomics, snacks
3:00 – 3:30 pm   student presentations, games
3:30 – 4:00 pm   career discussion with a professional

Tentative career focus

computational and experimental biologist (academic career)

physician (medical)

law (ethics, patents, policy, etc)

pharmaceutics/biotechnology (careers in industry)

Fridays

Parents are invited to students’ presentations

Each group will suggest a way of preventing the disease based on the week’s research

Refund Policy

The $100 administrative fee will not be refunded once the camp application is accepted.

If a student withdraws, the camp fee paid minus the administrative fee will be refunded if we are notified by May 5, 2020.

If a student withdraws between May 6 and May 20, 2020, we will refund 50 percent of the camp fee paid.

No refund will be given after May 20, 2020.