Rounded out by informative lectures and meeting with professionals across varied fields, they gain firsthand exposure to college-level biomedical science. Students live on the Mount Carmel Campus while engaging in hands-on learning in the modern science teaching labs and specialized wet/dry research spaces inside Quinnipiac’s state-of-the art SITE building.

Offered in two summer sessions, the annual program is led by its founder, Donnasue Graesser. A Quinnipiac associate teaching professor of biomedical sciences, she brings 30 years of biological sciences experience to her microbiology courses, with an emphasis on laboratory teaching. As a biology scholar alumna of the American Society of Microbiology, she strives to incorporate the principles of scientific teaching. As Quinnipiac’s microbiology laboratory manager, Graesser fosters inquiry-based hands-on laboratory learning while ensuring campus lab safety and mentoring student researchers.

“For this program, we try to take our nursing and general microbiology class and distill it into one week. They will get a shortened version of what our students do in a semester, so they get a good hands-on experience. They’re doing authentic science in the lab, which is important. They’re still exploring careers, and this is a way to see if it resonates with them,” Graesser said.

A feature of the program is the chance for students to learn more about career pathways by meeting with a panel of professionals such as physicians, nurses, lab technicians, professors and infection prevention practitioners working in hospital settings. This year, the program also invited a State of Connecticut epidemiologist.

“There are many careers that are all in some way related to microbiology. It’s a great opportunity for the students to ask of these people questions about how they became interested in microbiology, and once they were interested, what they did with that knowledge and education in their careers,” Graesser said.

Each day, the high school students have the benefit of working directly with Graesser as well expert Quinnipiac faculty members such Nicole Bracci, an assistant professor of biomedical sciences.

“I love this program, because it’s been developed to help invigorate young scientists and get them excited about continuing in life science or microbiology in the future,” said Bracci.

Supporting that excitement in high school students can help to build a pipeline that channels the next generation of medical science professionals to fill needs in many health-related fields.

“We need young people to be excited about it so that we can have cascading impacts all over the medical field, whether it’s as medical professionals, researchers or technicians,” said Bracci.

Outside of the classroom, the high school students stayed in Quinnipiac residence halls, dined on the Mount Carmel Campus and took part in fun activities with the program’s Quinnipiac student leaders, including a hike at Sleeping Giant State Park.

Mauricio De La Garza, 17, of Newton, Connecticut, said he’s interested in pursuing a career in medicine, so attending this program checked a lot of boxes.

“I just know I want to do medicine when I get older, so I was looking for a camp and found this one. From the start, I’ve been really interested in what we’re doing. I think the experience of working with bacteria and the other things we’re doing in the lab is really great,” said De La Garza.

Lorelai Moylan, 16, of North Haven, Connecticut, also enjoyed working at the bench with her teammates.

“It’s really fun,” Moylan said. “I like emergency medicine, but I’m interested in all facets of medicine. I saw this camp would give me a different angle of that sort of study, so that’s what brought me here.”

Lena Denapoli, 16, came to Quinnipiac from Long Island, New York to lean into her future academic path. The rising high school senior plans to apply to Quinnipiac as an early-decision applicant this year.

“Two years ago, I visited Quinnipiac for the first time and I absolutely loved it, and it wasn’t too long after that I realized I wanted to be a physician assistant [PA]” Denapoli said. “I’ve enjoyed doing this camp because it’s given me an understanding of microbiology and infectious diseases, but I think it also confirmed that I like PA’s focus on the human body as a whole. It also really introduced me to college life — living in a dorm away from my family, meeting new people, talking to different professors, going to different classrooms and labs.”

With her new bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences, student leader Brianna Minervino ’26, is now applying to enter PA graduate studies. Minervino said the path for her academy journey became clear after attending this pre-college summer program as a high school student in 2021.

“I knew I liked science, and I was deciding between medical school and PA school. I came to this program, and I really enjoyed it. It helped me decide to go to Quinnipiac,” Minervino said. “For a high school student, this program is a good mix of hands-on experience as well as lecture content — which can be a lot — but I think we do a pretty good job of mixing it up. I think they really enjoy it.”

Student leader Samantha Laguerre ’27, is majoring in medical microbiology-immunology on the pre-med track, while also majoring in health, medicine and society with a minor in healthcare management. As a high school student in 2022, Laguerre signed up to attend Quinnipiac’s Pre-Med Preparation: Medical Microbiology pre-college summer program.

“I was entering my senior year of high school, and I wanted to get a feel of what college was like,” Laguerre said. “I remember meeting Dr. Graesser and the other professors here and sitting outside in the Quad looking at Sleeping Giant and thinking, ‘I want to go here.’  That whole experience is what really solidified it for me.” 

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