On Saturday, December 2 more than 100 middle school and high school students from Essex County attended a lecture provided by Pranela Rameshwar, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, and graduate students from her lab including Shakti Ramkissoon, Jaclyn Ruggiero, Bobby Reddy, Kathy Trzaska, Katherine Liu, Joyce Kim, Nidhi Shah, Rami Rafeh and Tara Gooen.

The lecture, which consisted of an overview of stem cells, the ethical issues facing their use in research and their importance in regenerative medicine, was presented through the Consortium for Pre-College Education in Greater Newark, a collaboration among East Orange, Irvington and the Newark school districts, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Rutgers-Newark College of Arts and Sciences (RNCAS) and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) at Newark. Funded by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education since 1986, the consortium's aim is to work together to provide educational programs and college-bound activities for students in sixth through twelve grade.

Focused on preparing students for college admission, the program includes a number of areas of instruction: mathematics (pre algebra through calculus), science (general through chemistry), English (grammar, essay, literature) and English as a second language (ESL), computer literacy, technology (general through pre-engineering). Participants also learn effective study skills, financial management and healthy eating habits. Since the program's founding, eighty percent of participants have attended college.

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