From Lymph Nodes to MRI’s: Medical STEM Fall 2025 Highlights

USC JEP’s Medical STEM Program (MSP) had a packed and powerful Fall 2025 semester, which has included piloting new curricular units, deepening cancer education, and connecting local elementary students with an inspiring team of medical and research professionals.​

Curriculum beta-testing highlights- Lymphology & Radiology

This fall marked the first field tests of the new lymphology and radiology units across multiple JEP STEM contexts. The lymphology unit was originally written by YSP alumna Brooke McMahon (Allyn) and this unit translated and transposed lymphology concepts onto cardboard human cutouts and a hydraulics setup with syringes emulating how lymph fluids move around the body. Brooke was able to finalize the curriculum this summer and set it up to acknowledge her dad. In the journal publication relating to this she dedicated it to the memory of her father Timothy D. McMahon, whose courage in the face of cancer inspired this work. The unit describes what lymph nodes are, their purpose and structure. There is also another lesson on the varying lymph node components that are emulated with beans and pipe cleaners. 

Caleb Clary, third grade coordinator and TA for MSP introduced the lymphology lessons both in the virtual WonderKids Program with STEM Education Fellow Anamika Nanda and in two third grade classrooms at Dr. Theodore T. Alexander Jr. Science Center School, giving the team rich feedback on how young learners make sense of the lymphatic system, immunity, and cancer connections.​ Caleb enriched the lesson by creating a kinesthetic movement activity of the lymph nodes expelling viruses and bacteria and letting lymph fluids go through. 

The other field test was the radiology unit—originally developed by JEP alumna Brittany Acevedo for in-person WonderKids—returned from the archive for in-person beta-testing in Jack Gunnink’s class at Lenicia Weemes Elementary. Brittany taught the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesson which included her reading a book called Martin’s MRI, having students look and analyze MRI images, and then put a lego patient into model MRI’s. Through hands-on imaging activities and career exploration, students learned how radiologists help diagnose and treat disease while also practicing observation and evidence-based reasoning.​

Hands-on medical STEM moments

One of the most unforgettable days this fall came courtesy of Dr. Chuck Murry from USC Stem Cell, who visited a Vermont Avenue Elementary third grade class. He brought real pig hearts and lungs, along with a bike pump to inflate the lungs, turning the classroom into a living anatomy lab where students could literally see and feel how these organs work.​

These tactile demonstrations helped demystify medical science and sparked sophisticated questions about heart health, breathing, and how doctors and scientists study organs to better understand and treat disease. 

Community of medical mentors

Medical STEM welcomed a wide network of guest speakers who shared their education journeys, research interests, and day-to-day work in medicine and science. Speakers included Yuanzhou Chen, DJ Fernandez, Sarah Hourihan, Jonathan Barajas, Sophia Fischer, Brittany Acevedo, Garret Heisinger, Diego Velarde, Carolina Contreras, W. Martin Kast, Chuck Murry, Edgar Gonzalez, Mary Aalto, and Rita Barakat, representing a range of fields from basic research to clinical care.​

Each guest helped students connect abstract concepts—like cancer cells, imaging, or the immune system—to real people and real careers, while providing culturally relevant role models for our local partner schools. These visits also reinforced one of JEP STEM’s core goals: showing K–5 students that there is a place for them in STEM and healthcare futures.​

Caring for patients through service

The Medical STEM partnership with USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center continued to center empathy and community care alongside science learning. Under the guidance of guest speaker and cancer survivor Mary Aalto, a group of special education third graders working with JEP STEM TA Salma Setia at Vermont Avenue Elementary created “Cheerful Cards” for cancer patients—colorful, handwritten messages and drawings that will be shared with inpatients at Norris Cancer Hospital.​

This activity invited students to see themselves not only as future scientists and healthcare professionals, but also as compassionate neighbors supporting people in treatment right now. The cards project closed the semester on a note of kindness, reminding everyone involved that Medical STEM is as much about heart as it is about science.