On Oct. 15, Stevenson High School seniors Christina Feng and William Wong presented their insights from participating in a summer research internship at National University of Health Sciences (NUHS) during the annual STEM Professionals as Resource Knowledge (SPARK) Symposium.
SPARK is a summer internship initiative designed to engage exceptional high school STEM students in research and work alongside active researchers in the Chicagoland area. Student interns collaborate with professional mentors for a period of 70-100 hours over the course of nine to ten weeks.
Feng and Wong were chosen as SPARK interns for the summer of 2025. Mentored by NUHS research faculty member Jocelyn Faydenko, ND, DC, MS, the students worked on one of NUHS’ current research projects, “Simultaneous Crepitus and Diagnostic Ultrasound Assessment of the Lumbar Zygapophyseal Joints.”
Within this project, the students were involved in several research-related endeavors. This included completing a full project, being trained and involved as research assistants, learning about various study designs and writing a narrative review. They acted as human observers in assessing crepitus recordings and then analyzed and summarized data related to their own results.
“The training was for the project we are actively conducting. To be able to appropriately search for and summarize literature, we reviewed various studies and their designs and then they began writing a literature review that may eventually be submitted for publication,” Dr. Faydenko said.
Along with providing these students with tangible skills and experience to add to their resumes, Dr. Faydenko highlights this experience will also give them a leg up in any science-based career they decide to pursue.
“They now have skills that most students in undergrad probably haven’t even been exposed to. So, taking these skills into an undergraduate program will benefit them because they’ll have experience with reading scientific literature, and they’ll know what some of the terminology is and what goes into a research project,” Dr. Faydenko said. “In this program, we’re able to help these high school students reach their long-term professional goals.”
This year was Dr. Faydenko’s third year as a SPARK mentor. While she generally enjoys teaching, she feels that mentoring SPARK students is deeply rewarding.
“This summer’s SPARK Program was a wonderful reminder of how rewarding it is to help young minds dive into research and new scientific topics and see their curiosity grow,” Dr. Faydenko said. “Mentoring really is a privilege and joy for me.”
Through this program, NUHS demonstrates its commitment to education and community engagement, aligning closely with its mission. Dr. Faydenko highlights the importance of engaging the community through educational initiatives that offer high school students’ valuable knowledge and experiences that extend beyond the classroom.
“Even though they’re high school students, we’re providing them with education and new knowledge that they can take with them, whether they decide to go the health care route or not,” Dr. Faydenko said. “It’s also a good way to just get involved in the community and help get our presence out there. We’re helping our local communities and schools too.”
“Being a part of the SPARK program and being a part of the journey of the budding young clinician and engineer in this year’s program was a real privilege. Dr. Faydenko did an outstanding job as the students’ primary NUHS mentor. Consequently, the students received practical experience in a research project and also additional information on the research process. Based on the feedback we’ve received from past SPARK interns, the NUHS experience will be useful in the students’ future studies and academic careers. We certainly enjoy having them on campus with us during the summer,” Dean of Research Dr. Gregory Cramer said.
Discover NUHS’ innovative research projects by visiting our Current Research page.
