Kael McInnis prepares to practice administration of an intradermal injection.
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Twenty-two high school sophomores spent the summer learning the fundamentals of sophisticated laboratory techniques at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

The teenagers are the inaugural class of the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy, which seeks to develop the next generation of biomedical scientists for San Antonio. The lab techniques learned over the summer will prepare each student to work in the laboratory of a faculty mentor over the next two summers.

“We do things that scientists do here for a living,” said Bria Woods, who attends Johnson High School. “And we have met all kinds of amazing people.”

$750,000 gift funds the academy
The Voelcker Academy was created with a $750,000 gift from The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund.

Specialized lab techniques
The students learned a number of lab techniques over the summer. Those techniques included:

• restriction enzyme digestion, which is used to cut DNA and RNA in very precise locations
  
• gel electrophoresis, the process by which fragments of DNA or RNA are separated by size; and
  
• enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which detects the presence of an antibody or antigen

Many days, the students heard a lecture on a scientific topic in the morning, then conducted related lab experiments that afternoon.

“Having background is really nice — this program provides a lot of background,” said Elizabeth Arriaga, who attends Burbank High School. In school, she said, “It was always, ‘This is the answer,’ and not why that’s the answer or how you get to that answer.”

The students also took field trips both on and off campus and listened to guest speakers from the Health Science Center faculty, including Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP.

Students represent several public school districts and private schools
The 22 sophomores represent four public school districts and a number of private high schools in the San Antonio area. They were selected through a competitive admissions process that included grade requirements, teacher recommendations and an essay.

Alexandra Sharp (left) and Bria Woods examine the bands of DNA visible on a gel after a restriction enzyme digest followed by electrophoresis.

Voelcker Academy leadership
The students are led by Voelcker Academy co-directors Irene Chapa, Ph.D., director of the Health Science Center’s Office of Recruitment and Science Outreach, and Sophia Piña, Ph.D., assistant dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The principal investigator for the Voelcker Academy is Brian A. Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Health Science Center.

“This is an incredible way to motivate students and inspire them to continue their training, which will only become more detailed and exciting for them each year,” Dr. Piña said.

Dr. Chapa called the gift from the Voelcker Fund “an investment in local students that will ultimately have global significance as these students aspire to be the ones who, tomorrow, will find treatments and cures for the diseases of today.”

More Voelcker Scholars will be chosen from a diverse group of San Antonio school districts in years to come. By 2012, about 60 high school students will be participating in the three-year program.

The Voelckers and their gift
Established in 2006, the Voelcker Fund and its trustees have invested nearly $4 million in biomedical research at the Health Science Center.

Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker, who died in 1980 and 2000 respectively, ran a successful dairy farm in San Antonio for many years. The Voelckers loved children and San Antonio and were deeply interested in medical research. The Voelcker Academy combines those passions.