Brooke Finney and Brooklyn Pardall, freshmen from Central Lee High School in Donnellson, IA, recently visited the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) at the University of Iowa to meet with UI pulmonary researchers and visit some of our facilities.
Having already won a combined $5000 in scholarships from Iowa State University for their research regarding lung functions in smokers, former smokers, and people who have never smoked, the teen investigators are now hoping to expand their observations at the UI. The name of their most recent project is “Calling it Quits-Phase 2”.
During their recent visit, Brooke and Brooklyn met with UI pulmonary investigators, learned about current research efforts in Cystic Fibrosis (CF), accessed some of the UI’s bronchoscopy equipment, visited the ICTS’ Exercise Physiology Lab, and interacted with faculty and staff at the Iowa Comprehensive Lung Imaging Center.
Brooke and Brooklyn currently plan to take the information obtained during their first UI visit back to their high school, develop a plan for a new research project, and return at a later point to work with one (or more) of the investigators they met.
Brooke said, "Our first visit to the University of Iowa was an experience that I will never forget!” She said she was exposed to things she would not get to do or see otherwise such as observing a lung biopsy and learning how scientists conduct CF experiments using pigs. Looking forward, Brooke said they’d like to take the information gained from their visits and apply it when conducting a project at their high school.
“I love science and competing in fairs. I can't thank University of Iowa enough for helping us and I can't wait to work with you all through our future science projects. It means so much, and I am very excited to see what comes in the future. What can I say? We are just science nerds that love lungs,” Brook said.
According to Brooklyn, her favorite part of the visit involved observing a live scope of a man’s lungs. “It provided a lot of insight into potential diseases that can form in the lungs,” she added. She also said she learned a lot about CF specifically—something she never really knew much about — including the fact that is a genetic disease. Now she wants to learn more about CF and possibly do related research work.
ICTS Clinical Research Manager Kim Sprenger (also a Lee Central High School alum) said, “Our hope is they will continue to enjoy and be excited about conducting pulmonary research. We want to continue working with Brooke and Brooklyn to encourage and engage them as they grow academically. You never know, maybe they’ll find a cure for one of our most devastating diseases,” she added.