Perkins Bio Discovery Centre continues to inspire low socio-economic students to study medical research

Young minds are getting a rare first dose of lab life, in a bid to spark a passion for medical research and inspire future careers in science. Now in its eighth year, the Perkins Profs Intensive Program— run at the Perkins BioDiscovery Centre and funded by the Fogarty Foundation— is offering students from lower socio-economic backgrounds a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in a cutting-edge STEM environment. Over the course of a week, participants rolled up their sleeves to learn hands-on medical research techniques while working alongside scientists, bioengineers, and university students. This school holidays, students from Girrawheen Senior High School, Hampton Senior High School, Gilmore College, Rockingham Senior High School and Aveley Secondary College took part in the program. Perkins Institute community education manager Steven Blake said the initiative was designed to provide an accessible pathway into science, and one that could help shape the next generation of researchers. “The idea for the students we have here is to get them to be able to see themselves in the career of medical research,” Mr Blake said. “They’re at an age where they are starting to think about what career pathways they may want to take. “We want them to get in the seat and see themselves in that pathway… the ultimate goal is we will get more students from more diverse backgrounds to be able to come through and enter the medical science workforce.” Mr Blake said programs like this are more vital than ever, as the number of students pursuing ATAR and preparing for tertiary education continues to decline. “We want to contribute by showing kids the pathways that they can take and the best pathways to take, and hopefully inspire more students to be more motivated in those later years,” he said. Gilmore College Year 11 student Yangchen Docma, 16, said the program offered a glimpse into a world she didn’t know was possible. “I’ve seen some things I never thought I would,” she said. “We came here for a day excursion, and then that’s when we were told about the program and I really wanted to go.” Already drawn to science, Yangchen said the experience had confirmed her ambitions to pursue a career in the field. “All of my top career ideas have always been catered to science,” she said. “Whether it was more like physics and chemistry or more like human biology or like, something medical.” When asked if she could one day see herself working at the Harry Perkins Institute, she said “maybe”. “I’m kind of interested in the research they’re doing. It sounds kind of cool,” she said. “It’s a really fancy establishment and the instructors and especially all the researchers that come along to give talks and demos and help us out with experiments, they really know what they’re talking about.”