This month, JMA offered a week long bootcamp of an adapted version of our Medical Biotechnology Curriculum, reaching 200 students, across 5 countries, 21 US states and 83 cities.

From August 17, 2020 till August 21, 2020, instructurs Reetam Ganguli, Mehek Parghi, and Maansi Gupta taught 200 students via Zoom through lectures and discussion sections. Our students’ ages ranged from ten to twenty, and they came from five different countries and 82 cities around the world*, thereby constituting the most diverse lessons JMA has ever held. JMA’s WAVE lessons represent the second virtual lessons JMA has held during the COVID-19 pandemic as we continue to adapt and adjust to the current situation while maintaining our mission to provide quality biology education to students of all ages and backgrounds.

Each of the five lessons were an hour-and-a-half long, with lecture being held for the first hour in which the head instructor, Ganguli, taught students about DNA editing, biomarkers and cancer therapy, stem cells, organ and tissue engineering, biotechnology-based therapies for heart disease, and the fundamentals of wet lab research techniques. Due to the advanced and highly complex nature of the topics, the beginning of each lecture briefly covered the relevant basics for each topic– such as DNA base pairings and the anatomy of the heart. Students then had the opportunity to split into different divisions based on their knowledge level and comfort with the material with Ganguli teaching the advanced students, Gupta teaching the intermediate students, and Parghi teaching the beginner students. Students could use this time to clarify what was discussed in the lecture and further discuss the material.

After completion of the lessons, students were invited to become JMA Ambassadors; this is offered to every student who has completed lessons with JMA as part of our teaching model to create a maximum beneficial impact. Students who wanted to get involved in other ways could be part of our COVID-19 task force to provide funds for supplies for communities in Ghana impacted by the pandemic.

We are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with so many students all over the world and to teach and support them during these uncertain times. It was incredible to see so many engaged students on a Zoom call every single day. We wish all our students good luck with their future studies, and we hope that JMA has given them the tools and knowledge to make attaining success easier.

*Out of the 200 students registered for the class, 140 filled out a voluntary form in which they reported their age and where they were from.