Best and brightest present their research at VCU

By Sarah Lepley
VCU Communications and Public Relations

Sanjay Kishore is quite comfortable explaining how his research could help to create a cancer vaccine, talking in detail about weakly specific T-cells, the functions of host cells and manipulations of signal peptides.

But the four scientists watching are not entirely convinced. One by one they fire questions at Kishore, demanding that he defend months of lab work and research.

Kishore isn’t a medical researcher, and this isn’t his doctoral dissertation. He is an 18-year-old high school student who was selected to present his research at the Virginia Academy of Science and the Virginia Junior Academy of Science annual meeting May 26 through May 29 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

And this was only his first of two presentations.

The meetings featured speakers, research presentations and networking opportunities. About 700 members from the groups attended, and a large number of them stayed on campus.

The Virginia Academy of Science furthers science and scientific research in all of its branches, and the Virginia Junior Academy of Science promotes scientific aptitude among students in grades seven through 12.

The students, considered among the best and brightest in the sciences, are selected by their teachers to present research to their peers for judging and were given the opportunity to speak with the senior scientists attending the concurrent meeting.

Thomas F. Huff, Ph.D., vice provost for VCU Life Sciences, said VCU was proud to take on the challenge of hosting, calling it  an important duty for an academic institution.

“The United States needs more scientists and engineers in order to compete in the global economy,” said Huff. “We want to provide Virginia students with the experience of scientific enterprise.”

And there was certainly no shortage of scientific enterprise. Project categories ranged from consumer science to microbiology, allowing students to pursue any topic that struck their curiosity.

“It allows students to look at something and wonder,” said Suzette Kilgore, a statistics teacher at the Southwest Virginia Governor’s School. “To make them question, ‘why?’”

George H. Moody Middle School seventh grader Marva Masood’s project, “The Effect of the Amount of 10% Hydrogen Peroxide on Radish Seed Germination Time,” was inspired by her love of gardening.

“A green thumb runs in the family, I love plants,” Masood said. “But I always want them to grow faster.” 

Not only do students get to pursue their interests in science through VJAS, many get their first experiences speaking in public and defending academic research, skills that can benefit them both inside and outside the laboratory.

VJAS president Prakriti Verma said this year’s meeting went smoothly, in large part because of a new online registration option that VCU created this year.

Verma said she hopes the success of this year’s meeting will lead to even more interest in VJAS next year.

“I just want people to love science as much as I do,” she said.

At VJAS, Verma is not alone in her passion for science. Along with the students, many distinguished members of scientific community attend as judges, organizers and speakers.

“They get to meet so many peers and scientists that think alike,” VJAS Judge Debra Hamilton said. “Students get to really see the scientific community.”

The four-day event also featured lectures by Kevin Whaley, M.D., with the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; Sheldon Retchin, M.D., vice president for Health Sciences and CEO of the VCU Health System, inventor of the SwimPM3; and a presentation on “Woundstat: From Bench to Bedside and Beyond,” with Kevin Ward, M.D., a VCU emergency physician and associate director of the VCU Reanimation Engineering Shock Center (VCURES); Robert Diegelmann, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, anatomy & emergency medicine at the VCU School of Medicine; and Gary Bowlin, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering.