Research internship gives students a chance to help discover solutions

Putting their brains to the test, more than 20 high school students worked alongside Biodesign Institute scientists as part of a summer high school internship at Arizona State University. 

Students from 13 Phoenix-area high schools worked on research projects that address pressing societal problems, ranging from decontamination of groundwater to building nanostructures for diagnostics and working on cures for infectious diseases and cancer. The daily exposure to the large research teams and world-class facilities of the institute gave the students an in-depth introduction to the career of a research scientist.

For Phoenix Union Bioscience High School senior Tesla Therrien, scooping up enzymes and proteins was a lot different from her first job experience scooping ice cream. “I thought working in a lab would be scary, but the scientists helped me understand everything. And when we had setbacks in our project, it just got me more into what I was doing.”

“Science is like solving a really hard mystery. Sometimes you get stuck on the first few steps of the experiment,” agreed Benjamin Hill of Chandler Preparatory Academy, who is considering attending ASU. “My mentor made sure I got to do everything and even rescheduled a lab meeting so that I could attend.”

Biodesign Institute Executive Director Alan Nelson, PhD, stressed the important role of such hands-on educational opportunities. “Future breakthroughs in medicine and protecting our environment will depend on preparing these students to succeed. Challenging laboratory experiences let them see that they can have an impact, and this makes all their hard work worthwhile,” he said.
 
“Now that I’ve been in a real working lab, biology class definitely will click more for me,” said Desert Vista High School senior Jared Naimark. “The projects are so amazingly cutting-edge; work done here really is the future.”

Each student is mentored by a researcher within the Institute, and mentors say the experience is as rewarding to them as to the students. “Having interns in the lab makes a big difference in their lives and on mine,” said Biodesign researcher Jeffrey LaBelle, PhD.

A key goal of the program is to give students a taste of what it would be like should they pursue a career in research.  “Hands-on experience is not obtained easily, so it is valuable,” said mentor and researcher Weimin Gao, PhD.  “My intern and I treated each other like scientific colleagues by exchanging ideas about the background of our project, its potential significance, and future articles to read.”

The internship program, now in its fourth year, supports a Valleywide initiative to strengthen the area’s bioscience/biotechnology industry. Interns had to opportunity to complete their summer work experience by presenting their research in front of their colleagues, mentors and parents.

Students participating in final presentations who would be willing to be interviewed include:

Student, High-school, City

Dinah DeWald, Arizona School for the Arts, Phoenix
Andrew Shabilla, BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale
Elizabeth Villalba, Carl Hayden Community, Phoenix
Benjamin Hill, Chandler Preparatory Academy, Chandler
Juliana Park, Corona del Sol, Tempe
Sagar Patwardhan, Corona del Sol, Tempe
Rebecca Lin, Desert Mountain, Scottsdale
Jared Naimark, Desert Vista, Phoenix
Dobson Nickie, Seto, Mesa
Ian Sutherland, Highland, Gilbert
Jesse Mapel, North, Phoenix
Claire Wong, North Canyon, Phoenix
Alexandra Polasko, Notre Dame Preparatory Academy, Scottsdale
Derek Rodriguez, Phoenix Union Bioscience, Phoenix
Tesla Therrien, Phoenix Union Bioscience, Phoenix

Selection of student research profiles:

Chandler
Benjamin Hill, Chandler Preparatory Academy, “Reaction Center Mutagenesis”
Hill focused on learning about mutations of the photosynthetic reaction centers and its impact on improving solar cell efficiency. 

Gilbert
Ian Sutherland, Highland, “Plant-based Expression and Function of MagA as a Purification Handle”
Sutherland cloned a gene from the bacterium Magnetospirillum that produces magnetic nanoparticles. He injected the gene into plant leaves and analyzed whether the introduced gene produced these magnetic nanoparticles in plants.

Mesa
Nickie Seto, Dobson, “The covalent attachment of proteins to DNA:  The Tus-Ter Complex, an Innovative Method for Probing Protein: DNA interactions”
Seto used molecular biological and biochemical methods to purify a protein molecule called Tus to investigate the bacterial protein's ability to bind to a DNA termination sequence.

Phoenix
Dinah DeWald, Arizona School for the Arts, “Reduction of Water Contaminants in a Microbial Biofilm Reactor”
DeWald examined the effectiveness of a membrane biofilm reactor device at reducing harmful contaminants such as selenate, perchlorate, nitrate, sulfate, and freeons in a high salinity environment.

Scottsdale
Rebecca Lin, Desert Mountain, “Biosensors for Inflammatory Biomarkers in Muscle-degenerative Diseases”
Lin used biosensors to detect changes in levels of certain proteins that regulate the immune system to determine muscle inflammation from two muscle-degenerative diseases that can potentially increase the risk of cancer.

Tempe
Sagar Patwardhan, Corona del Sol, “Biodesign Drug Mitochondrial Bioenergetic Function: Potential Role in Disease”
Patwardhan tested the effectiveness of a synthesized compound on preventing oxidative stress on glutathione-dependant mechanisms. The compound will hopefully protect the mitochondria of the cell from oxidative stress, and the cell from the eventual cell death caused as a result of the stress.