USC’s Medical STEM Program brings pig hearts, pulse oximeters, and a world of possibility to local third graders.

At Vermont Avenue Elementary School, a class of third graders stared wide-eyed as Chuck Murry, MD, PhD, head of USC Stem Cell, cradled a pig heart in his gloved hand.

“I want to show you some real hearts,” said Murry, whose lab is developing regenerative treatments for cardiac disease at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “There are going to be two responses to this. You can say either ‘cool’ or ‘eew, gross.’ So you have to wait and see what mood strikes you when you come up and see.”

This cool but gross anatomy lesson was offered through USC’s Medical STEM Program (MSP), which inspires the next generation of students to take an interest in cancer-related and medical fields.

The MSP is a partnership between the Joint Educational Project and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and their Cancer STEM Education Partnership Program. It receives support from USC Norris and a USC Good Neighbors Campaign (GNC) grant. In the current funding climate, GNC support from USC faculty, staff, and students plays an increasingly vital role in sustaining the program.

Trojan Family ties

Founded and directed by Dieuwertje “DJ” Kast, EdD, at the USC Joint Educational Project (JEP) and her father, Professor W. Martin Kast, PhD, at the Keck School, MSP provides an engaging, standards-aligned 20-hour curriculum to approximately 600 third graders each term. These students attend USC’s Family of Schools: 15 elementary, middle, and high schools surrounding the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

Since its inception, the program has reached more than 4,000 students in Los Angeles.

“It is definitely a Trojan Family affair,” said DJ Kast, Director of STEM Education Programs for JEP at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. “My dad and I established the program, and we worked together to create some of the curriculum and the content. My mom Sylvia helped volunteer for a long time. She showed up dressed as Wonder Woman, because she is a breast cancer survivor. And then for the longest time, my sister Hinde was the communications director for USC Norris. So it was a whole family affair.”

MSP guest speakers include physical therapists, nurses, and cancer survivors as well as physician-scientists like Murry. As a recent guest speaker at one of the partner schools, W. Martin Kast honored his Dutch heritage by dressing up as the inventor of the microscope, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and giving a lesson about how different types of imaging can be used to see cells and cancer-causing viruses such as HPV—which can be prevented through a vaccine available for third graders.

“We started the Cancer STEM Education Partnership Program and MSP in elementary schools to give these kids a spark for STEM and oncology as early as possible,” said W. Martin Kast, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Urology, and Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, and Walter A. Richter Cancer Research Chair. “By giving this spark early on, what we hope to achieve is that these kids can see themselves doing this. Hopefully, in the long run, this will make them choose paths that will increase the workforce for cancer-related and STEM careers.”

By the time they reach grades 6 through 12, many MSP alumni go on to participate in the USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), a college access and success program operated by USC Educational Partnerships in the division of University Relations.

“A year ago, we had two students that had gone through all these programs, and are now undergraduate students at USC and teaching assistants with MSP,” said W. Martin Kast. “We sent them to the same elementary schools where they graduated. They were in the same classes with the same teachers that they had when they were 9 and 10 years old. And now, 10 years later, they are teaching these classes. They are successful and study at USC, and they are such good role models.”

Be still, my heart

With the Vermont Avenue Elementary students gathered around him, Murry sliced the heart neatly in half and pointed out its anatomical wonders: the vessels, chambers, and heart strings tethering valves to prevent the backflow of blood.

He then unveiled a second pig heart, still attached to the lungs and a windpipe. Using a manual air pump, similar to a bicycle pump, he inflated the lungs, which expanded to many times their original size as they filled with air.

Throughout the lesson, Murry enthusiastically imparted many amazing heart facts: A hummingbird’s heart beats more than 1,000 times a minute while in flight; a blue whale’s heart beats only eight. Your heart pumps a gallon of blood a minute. Your body contains more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels—enough to wrap around the Earth twice.

“You’re a very interesting man!” exclaimed one of the students. Another student started to feel woozy and sat down to take some deep breaths.

The students then split into three groups and rotated through stations. At one station, Murry led the students as they took turns inflating the lungs with the air pump. At another, USC undergraduate and teaching assistant Samantha Frederic helped students examine the dissected heart. A third group joined their teacher Elizabeth Loew to test their own blood oxygen levels and heart rates with a pulse oximeter—before and after doing jumping jacks.

“Samantha has been coming every week, and she’s been doing lots of hands-on experiments with the students,” said Loew. “This is the culmination of the science lessons. The students get to touch and explore and experiment themselves and not just read about it. This is a pretty unique experience for the third graders.”

Frederic feels like she’s learned as much as she’s taught by sharing the MSP curriculum with elementary school students.

“Joining the program has been a big learning experience, especially for me, just reinforcing some of the basics that I’ve learned in science,” said Frederic, a USC sophomore majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Psychology in the pre-med and pre-physician assistant tracks. “Being able to share my love of science with other students is definitely a blessing.”

Circulating curiosity

As their time drew to a close, Murry concluded the lesson with a heartfelt observation: “You know what I see when I look out here? I see the future of science and medicine.”

Before heading out to recess, two students surprised Murry with spontaneous hugs.

“I left with way more energy than I showed up with, and I just was happy all day long,” said Murry, professor and chair of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC.

He added, “I remember when people would come in and talk about science-related things when I was in school, and how struck I was by that. So it’s on us to light the imaginations of the next generation and show them what a wonderful way it is to make a living in science and medicine. You get paid to be curious. How cool is that?”

To learn more about the USC Good Neighbors Campaign that supports MSP and many other community partnerships, visit https://sites.usc.edu/goodneighbors.