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SLU ASBMB High School Research Symposium 2024

On Saturday, April 6th, 2024, the SLU American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Chapter organized its second annual High School Research Symposium Outreach Event. This event attempts to merge research and presentation experience to help provide high school students in the St. Louis area with exposure to the scientific experimentation process. 

LEFT TO RIGHT. Layton Pfeuffer (Saint Louis University High School), Sophie Burgoon (Visitation Academy), Lauren Cleary (Visitation Academy), Mary Stein (Visitation Academy), Allison Kowalczyk (Visitation Academy), Hannah Houseworth (Visitation Academy), Josephine Janisch (Visitation Academy), Lillian Carlin (Visitation Academy), Amisha Poojari (MICDS), Abhinav Katyal (MICDS), Arjun Puri (MICDS), Sanjana Gandhi (MICDS), Emma Carcamo (Marquette High School), Charlie Dougherty (Saint Louis University High School), and Vincent Ly (Saint Louis University High School).

During the symposium, fifteen students from four different high schools in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area were selected and constructed either a literature review or a compilation of lab work with which they are currently involved. At the conclusion of their project, each student created an abstract, a scientific poster, and a slide presentation. 

Each student presented their scientific research for 7-8 minutes, followed by a question session by SLU faculty, other students, and high school faculty members. There was a panel of judges evaluating the presentations on scientific content and data analysis, similar to a collegiate-level presentation. The faculty judges consisted of SLU Medical Sciences professors Dr. Uthayashanker Ezekiel and Dr. Rita Heuertz, and student judges were ASBMB E-board members Vaishnavi Srirama, Ether Dharmesh, Jessica Michael, Ashwin Pillai, Angela Lee, and Leah Keswani. Cash prizes and SLU merchandise were given to the top three presenters and honorary mention students. The following students received awards: 1st place, Amisha Poojari (MICDS); 2nd place, Arjun Puri (MICDS); 3rd place, Abhinav Katyal (MICDS); and Honorable Mention, Charles Dougherty (Saint Louis University High School) and Hannah Houseworth (Visitation Academy). The presentation session was followed by a tour of South Campus, including the Doisy Research Center, Allied Health Building laboratory spaces, and cancer research and microbiology labs of Dr. Ezekiel and Dr. Heuertz.

The SLU ASBMB High School Research Symposium was first started in the spring of 2023 by the current chapter president, Vaishnavi Srirama. As a high schooler, Vaishnavi completed a similar program, which she attributes as life-changing to her interests and career goal as a physician-scientist. She wanted to start a similar event through ASBMB to impact the science community and provide mentorship to students through the lens of scientific outreach. Since the first symposium in 2023, Vaishnavi Srirama, Jessica Michael, and Ashwin Pillai have written and received an outreach grant of $500 from ASBMB in support of the event. At the recent 2024 Discover BMB national conference, the SLU Chapter of ASBMB was awarded an Honorary Mention for being the best ASBMB chapter in the country, and Vaishnavi Srirama presented a poster about the 2023 outreach event outcomes and impact. In general, the outreach activity was regarded with high, positive regard, and many faculty members from other universities took images of the poster to start similar initiatives within their own communities.

The ASBMB High School Research Symposium has also created a large local impact. One of the faculty members at Visitation Academy, Mrs. Laurie Blanner, started a new research course and pathway in her school’s curriculum. She also networked with another faculty from Saint Louis University High School, Mr. Tim O’Keefe, whom she met at the 2023 SLU ASBMB Research Symposium, to create a Neuroscience competition between their two high schools. Some of the students who have previously participated in the symposium have also gone on to notable universities to pursue research, such as Notre Dame, Boston University, and Vanderbilt University.

SLU ASBMB Executive Board Members:

Faculty Advisor: Uthayashanker Ezekiel, PhD. 

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