Aspirnaut Archives

Aspirnaut student Nayla Ramos Vega, 15, wants to be a neurosurgeon.

Summer program gives high schoolers taste of discovery

Jul. 19, 2023—Since the Aspirnaut high school summer research internship program was launched in 2009, 334 students from 34 states have participated. To date, nearly 90 of them have gone to earn MD degrees, PhDs, or both.

Julie Hudson, MD, far left left, and Billy Hudson, PhD, far right, with this year's cohort of 19 high school students from eight states who participated in the summer research program at VUMC. (photo by Susan Urmy)

Aspirnaut scientific symposium set for Friday, July 14

Jul. 11, 2023—The Vanderbilt University Medical Center community is invited to attend a scientific symposium on Friday, July 14, presented by high school participants in the Aspirnaut K-20 STEM pipeline for diversity and wellness.

Aspirnaut Sahra Hassan, right, a senior at Burlington High School in Burlington, Vermont, worked on mitochondrial DNA maintenance with postdoctoral scientist Iva Chitrakar, PhD.

VUMC’s Aspirnaut program to install science lab at Wynne High School in Arkansas

Mar. 2, 2023—A chemical biology research lab fit for an academic medical center is being installed at Wynne High School (WHS) in Wynne, Arkansas, as part of a pilot project of Aspirnaut STEM pipeline at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Eighteen high school students and 16 college undergraduates participated in the Aspirnaut program this summer. Program co-founders Billy Hudson, PhD, and Julie Hudson, MD, MA, are at far left and right. Fourth from right, back row, is Aspirnaut alumna Lauren Taylor, from Grapevine, Arkansas, who participated in the inaugural Aspirnaut program 15 years ago — a broadband internet-equipped school bus the Hudsons dubbed their “mobile one-room schoolhouse,” which enabled students to log into science and math lessons during their long bus rides to and from school.

Science career “pipeline” garners national attention

Aug. 3, 2022—Vanderbilt's Aspirnaut STEM pipeline for diversity and wellness recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with a daylong scientific symposium, followed by a feature on the program broadcast Aug. 2 on NBC Nightly News.

Aspirnaut education program reaches decade mark

Aug. 29, 2019—Ten years on, a unique summer research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center designed primarily for rural high school students with limited resources is achieving its goal of increasing the diversity of the nation’s scientists and engineers.

Aspirnaut program helps launch students into science

Jul. 20, 2017—Now in its ninth year, a unique summer research program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) designed primarily for rural students with limited resources is proving that talent has no zip code.

Aspirnaut event details impact of art in science

Jul. 16, 2015—Students watched, transfixed, for nearly an hour last Friday as internationally known portrait artist Igor Babailov sketched Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.