On October 7, a select group of VIS students, accompanied by Ms. Rosalyn Shih, had the incredible opportunity to visit the Sander Lab at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin. We were warmly welcomed by Dr. Alexis Shih, Ms. Rosalyn’s cousin and a dedicated Scientist at the lab, who guided us through their groundbreaking work in culturing human stem cells to discover innovative cures for diabetes.

Here are some impressions from VIS student Katriel Hsieh:

“Visiting the Sander Lab was an eye-opening experience. I learned a lot about using human stem cells to understand the function of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, which are affected in diabetes. I also discovered how excessive food intake can negatively impact our bodies by causing insulin levels to spike multiple times a day.

At the lab, I was amazed by the variety of advanced machines used to assist scientists, including a special microscope. The most fascinating part of the trip was getting hands-on with scientific materials that we don’t have access to in our regular science classes. For instance, we used a specialized burette that can measure microliters, an incredibly small volume.”

We are immensely grateful to Dr. Alexis Shih for hosting us and igniting our students’ passion for scientific research. Experiences like these nurture our students’ intellectual curiosity and inspire them to pursue careers in science and innovation! 

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在10月7日，部分VIS學生在Rosalyn Shih老師的陪同下，有幸參觀了柏林Max Delbrück中心的Sander實驗室。我們受到了Dr. Alexis Shih的熱情接待，她是Rosalyn老師的表姐，也是實驗室的一名敬業科學家，帶領我們了解他們在培養人類幹細胞以尋找創新糖尿病治療方法方面的突破性工作。

以下是VIS學生Katriel Hsieh的一些感想：

「參觀Sander實驗室是一個開闊眼界的經歷。我學到了很多關於使用人類幹細胞來理解胰腺中產生胰島素的β細胞功能，這些細胞在糖尿病中受到影響。我還了解到過量的食物攝取如何通過導致一天中多次胰島素水平上升，對我們的身體產生負面影響。

在實驗室裡，我對科學家們使用的各種先進機器感到驚訝，包括一種特殊的顯微鏡。這次旅行最有趣的部分是能夠親手操作我們在常規科學課程中無法接觸到的科學材料。例如，我們使用了一種可以測量微升的專用滴定管，這是一個極小的體積。」

我們非常感謝Dr. Alexis Shih的接待，感謝她激發了我們學生對科學研究的熱情。像這樣的經歷培養了我們學生的智力好奇心，並激勵他們追求科學和創新的職業生涯！