By Will Schick | wschick@alextimes.com

T.C. Williams High School engineering and biotechnology teacher Jen Ushe aims to raise $9,000 to organize a virtual event for her students and the school at large.

With the funds, Ushe hopes to hold a virtual talk with the family of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cancer cells were unwittingly used to produce the first immortalized human cell line. Lacks’ cells are still used for medical research.

Every year, Ushe’s biotechnology students read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, in order to learn about Lacks, cells, cell culture and the racial inequities in medicine, according to Ushe.

Donations can be made to the campaign’s Donors Choose page at https:// bit.ly/3ohyyNq.-

–wschick@alextimes.com