Saint Viator students get birds-eye view of the retina

Presidents Day was a holiday, but don't tell 20 Saint Viator freshmen and sophomores who spent their day learning about cutting-edge research being done at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine on the retina.

Accompanied by Mary Lee DeBelina, assistant principal, students visited with Dr. Jason Jacoby, a 2000 graduate of St. Viator High School, at his lab in the medical school. Jacoby is a postdoctoral fellow, working with Dr. Gregory Schwartz, in the ophthalmology and physiology departments at Northwestern.

Students learned about how he extracts cells from the retinas of mice to learn more about how aspects of a visual scene are translated to the brain.

"We learned that the retina is an offshoot of the brain," said sophomore Matthew McManaman, "and how the optic nerve transmits images to the brain."

Jacoby works in a darkened lab and wears night-vision goggles to perform his surgery. Students that visited him were able to try on the image-enhanced goggles and examined the retina under a high-powered microscope.

The field trip counted as one of the experiences needed by students in Saint Viator's new STEM program, which was designed for those students who are considering a college major in science, technology, engineering or math.

"I'm interested in engineering and possibly biomedical engineering," said sophomore Allison Bosshart, "so this trip was interesting to see what it's like for a scientist working in the field."

Her classmate, sophomore Maura Hogaboom, agreed, adding that learning more about the brain fascinates her.

"This is the newest frontier in mapping the human brain," Hogaboom said. "They're at the beginning of that."

DeBelina commended the students for giving up their day off school to make the trip, but she suspects it made an impact.

"Our STEM program encourages students to have out of school, real-life exposure to medical and engineering fields," she said.

"We are proud to be able to call on our alumni to share their experience and inspire our students. Dr. Jason Jacoby is a great example of an alumnus making a positive difference."

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