Fifteen talented high school students from Palm Beach and Martin counties are conducting research at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology this summer. The students‘ full-time internships are made possible thanks to generous donations from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust and the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation.
Last week the students began their internships in a biotechnology classroom at Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens. There, they learned basic lab safety protocols and tried their hands at research techniques like pipetting and mixing chemical reagents.
This week, they joined their mentors in labs at The Wertheim UF Scripps campus, for the start of their eight-week, hands-on research experience. Their research projects will include gathering data on the molecular and genetic causes of inflammation; exploring how to harness the cell’s internal disposal machinery to treat disease; researching the impact of potential RNA medications, and exploring how a gene implicated in autism helps wire brain sensory circuits. The high school internship program is part of the Glenn W. Bailey STEM Education and Outreach Initiatives.
The students’ summer experience will end on July 31 with a symposium and reception, where they will present their research results to their families, teachers and friends.
This year’s Kenan Fellows come from 10 high schools:
- Nicholas Stan, from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, interning in the lab of chemist Thomas Kodadek, Ph.D.
- Willa Kanter, from the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, also interning in Kodadek lab
- Angelica Medina, from Boca Raton Community High School, interning in the lab of Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, M.D., director of the Center for Inflammation Science and Systems Medicine and associate vice president for research at UF Health
- Saxena Shivangi, of Jupiter Community High School, interning with structural biologist Patrick Griffin, Ph.D., scientific director of the institute
- Alexia Epperly, of the Clark Advanced Learning Center in Martin County, interning with Jason Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., of the Center for Inflammation Science & Systems Medicine
- Camryn McCarthy, also of the Clark Advanced Learning Center in Martin County, interning with Ayako Makino, Ph.D., of the Center for Inflammation Science & Systems Medicine
- Brooke Buchbinder, a student at Oxbridge Academy, interning in the lab of neuroscientist Courtney Miller, Ph.D., director of academic affairs at the institute.
- Alexander Regalado, also a student at Oxbridge Academy, interning with neuroscientist Gavin Rumbaugh, Ph.D.
- Kevin Wu, a student at Park Vista Community High School, interning in the lab of Matthew D. Disney, Ph.D., who chairs the institute’s Department of Chemistry and its center for RNA research, RNA: From Biology to Drug Discovery
- Singh Varun, of South Fork High School in Martin County, interning in the institute’s robotic High-Throughput Molecular Screening Center, with Louis Scampavia, Ph.D.
- Clifford Crawford of Suncoast Community High School, also interning in the institute’s robotic High-Throughput Molecular Screening Center, with Timothy Spicer, Ph.D.
- Evan Wang, of The Benjamin School, interning in Rumbaugh’s neuroscience lab
- Shaun Walder of Jupiter Community High School, interning in the lab of immunologist Laura Solt, Ph.D., associate dean of the institute’s graduate program
- Alayna Garland of Palm Beach Central High School, interning with neuroscientist William Ja, Ph.D.
- Bernardo Garcia of Boca Raton Community High School, interning in Rumbaugh’s neuroscience lab.