Welcome to Nemours 6th Annual Rare Disease Day Student Research Event
Beginning in 2015, Nemours Biomedical Research, in coordination with Social Services and the Delaware Department of Education (State Advisor, Student Advisors and student teams) HOSA* program, held our first Rare and Chronic Disease Research Event at Nemours. It was a huge success, and therefore we made it an annual event. We celebrate our event on the National Rare Disease Day that is always the last day of February each year. The main objective of Rare Disease Day 2020 is to raise awareness with policy makers and the public of rare diseases and of their impact on the lives of patients. Engaging and involving the students in science, research & STEM-related careers through education, mentorship, and hands-on experience, we will help guide our future healthcare workforce. We feel the platform that we have put together for this event does just that.
The planning committee identified 13 rare diseases that we treat, and/or do some type of research on at Nemours. The Delaware high schools involved in HOSA – Future Health Professionals Program, provided teams (of 2 students) who selected one of the diseases to research and create a poster to describe the disease and propose at least one area of research for possible future exploration. For 2020, thirteen schools have signed up to participate.
The diseases selected are:
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We have selected a Nemours researcher or clinician, as well as a patient/family for each of the diseases. The students will develop a visual display describing the disease. They will be judged (by a panel of four judges) on their ability to present themselves and their poster, communicate the rare disease information to others, as well as propose a possible cure/ treatment or quality of life measure. They will also compete for a separate prize in philanthropy efforts for raising funds for rare disease research at Nemours.
The posters will be set up in the Atrium of the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children on Friday, February 28th, 2020 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Awards will be given to the top 3 teams, in addition to the team that raised the most funds. We hope you are available to join us and support the students as well as our research on rare diseases.
Additional Information:
*HOSA ( Health Occupation Students of America) Future Health Professionals is a national student organization that provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation, and recognition exclusively for students enrolled in health science education. HOSA is 100% health care! The mission of HOSA is to enhance the delivery of compassionate, quality health care by providing opportunities for knowledge, skills and leadership development of all health science students, therefore, helping students to meet the needs of the health care community.