Upper School students showcased comprehensive independent research projects during the 3rd Annual Science Research Symposium in McDonnell Hall and Brauer Hall on April 17. They gave poster presentations for guests, including faculty, parents and professionals in the science industry.
In addition to valuable experience articulating their research findings, students enjoyed networking with professional scientists. The O’Hara Research Lab in McDonnell Hall and Brauer Hall is a professional grade bench research facility that provides the resources and space necessary to conduct long-term, extensive projects.
Sanchita Sen ’17, who aspires to attend medical school, explored a disease that affects bone density in mice. Her objective was to find a solution to increase bone density that would eventually be used for humans. This project “showed me the many ways conducting a scientific research project will be excellent preparation for a pre-med program in college.”
“We believe it is important to expose students to real scientific investigation early in their academic careers so they realize that learning science and actually doing the work of a scientist are very different,” Dr. Katrina Brandis, director of research programs at MICDS, explains. “The earlier they can have an authentic research experience, the sooner they know if it is something they want to pursue in college.”
The following list includes the students who presented at the event and their research project(s).
- Abdullah Almousalli ‘17: “The Effects of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Structures on Plant Growth” and “Synthesis and Refractive Index Sensitivity of Gold Nanorattles with Size-Controlled Cores”
- William Delaney ‘17: “Investigation into the biological stimulation prosperities of varying algae species extracts when directly applied to the soil of an American Banana Pepper”
- Nila Plump ‘17: “Re-establishing a Successful Aquaponic System while Measuring Rate of Plant Growth in Aquaponic System Compared to Regular Soil”
- Samantha Villagomez ‘17: “Yeast Fermentation: The Magic of High Ethanol in SC and YPD Media”
- Trisha Venkatesh ‘17: “Modulation of MAP Kinase Signalling by Valproate (VPA) in a Yeast Model”
- Yoana Ivanova ‘17: “Analyzing the Effects of SAM1 Deficiency on the RAD9 Gene”
- Alyssa Ogle ‘17: “Celebrity Influence on Political Opinion and in Advertising” and “Sexism’s Impact on a Woman’s Ability to Self-Regulate”
- Caroline Dong ‘17: “Investigating the Effect of NAM8 of Yeast Spliceosome on Alternative Splicing and Localization of S.Cerevisiae PTC7 Isoforms” and “Discovering How Mutations R218Q and T1304M Nav1.5 Work Together to Cause Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia”
- Cameron Macones ‘17: “Fertilizer Runoff and Overuse Experiment” and “Lepidopteran Leaf Shelter Traits and their Effect on Occupation by Secondary Colonists”
- Teddy Fister ‘17: “The Effectiveness of Perennial Grasses as a method to Increase Indoor Oxygen Levels”
- Kumu Myla ‘17: “Comparing the Growth of Yeast Cells Without CCC2, CTR1, and PCA1 in Three Different Copper Treated Medias”
- Nathan Huang ‘17: “Monitoring the Variability of Heart Rate in Response to Stress Over an Extended Period of Time”
- Hanna Bockert ‘20, Jessica Brooks ‘20, Stanley Ding ‘20,
- Lauren Ferguson ‘20, Christian LeNoir ‘20, Lucy Zhao ‘20: “Conifer Succession After Wildfire in Grand Tetons”
- Shane Isaak ‘17: “Development of Analysis Tools for Mass Spectral and Computational Data”
- Sanchita Sen ‘17: “Effect of Miglustat Therapy on Spinal Trabecular Bone in the Hypophosphatasia Mouse MOdel”
- Amaan Qazi ‘17: “Smoker Interest in Personalized Genetic Information”
- Vignesh Janardhanam: “Effects of Alpha Synuclein Fibrils, Synthesized from the 3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DOPAL) and Alpha Synuclein, on the Aggregation of Naive Alpha Synuclein”
- Trisha Venkatesh ‘17: “Quantitative Assessment of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) in Animal Models”
- Samantha Sansone ‘17: “Motivations for Posting YouTube Videos About Use of High-Potency Marijuana”
- Sara Mirkhaef ‘17: “Evaluating Bone Collagen Alignment and Fibril Size in Mice Lacking BMP2”
- Rohit Chouhan ‘17: “Two Methods for Hydrogel-Based Treat for Nerve Cell Regeneration Applications”
- Niema Foroughi ‘17″ “Unmanned Aerial Sytem (UAS) for Modern Agriculture: Thermal Imaging for Irrigation Scheduling”
- Nidhi Bhaskar ‘17: “Effect of RB1 Knockout and CD40 Stimulation on Murine Splenic B-cell Proliferation”
- Jacob Platin ‘17: “Developing New Measurement and Signal Processing Capabilities in Order to Analyze the Turbulence Readings of a New Polysonic Wind Tunnel”
- Anjali Pante ‘17: “Comparing a Peroxide-like Deoxyribozyme to Horseradish Peroxidase for Use in a Glucose Biosensor”
- Alexander Curylo ‘17: “Contribution of Bacterial Production of Gluthaione in the Protection of Group B Streptococcus from Killing by Murine Macrophages”
- Abinaya Lakshmanan ‘17: “Galmydar: A Metalloprobe for Monitoring Chemotherapeutic Resistance in Human Cancer Cells”
- Nikki Kasal ‘17: “Inducing Bacterial SOS Response Mutagenesis in Escherichia coli by Coliphage T4r”