News and Events

Mass. Students Compete in International Science Fair with Biotech Projects

June 25, 2009   |  

by Lynnea Olivarez

Deepika Bhargo, of Somerville, knew she wanted to compete at an international level after winning her school’s science fair in the seventh grade. But she didn’t know quite how she would achieve that goal.

 

Now 17 and going into her senior year in high school, Bhargo has already competed twice at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest pre-college science competition, with projects in biotechnology both times.

 

Other students in the Massachusetts delegation of 25 who competed at the ISEF with a project in biotech were Marlborough High School seniors Anisha Gundewar, 18, and Rebecca Baur, 18.

 

“To be honest, I didn’t really think I’d ever get there,” Gundewar said. In eighth grade, Gundewar did not make it into her school’s science fair. But during her freshman year of high school, her winning streak started.

 

“Freshman year, I won in school. Sophomore year, I went on to regional. Junior year, I went to state, and senior year, I competed at the international level,” she said.

 

During her sophomore year at Somerville High School, Bhargo became involved with Biogen Idec’s Community Lab, in Cambridge. There, she was assigned a mentor and researched with her friend and classmate, Linda Chau, the effects of three compounds of snake venom on colon cancer. The research topic was spurred by a trip Bhargo took a trip to India and saw a media report of a boy dying from a snake bite.

 

Chau, 18, also of Somerville, became involved with Biogen’s Community Lab after she took a standard biology class her sophomore year.

 

“I didn’t like science when I was in middle school. My teacher… picked on me because I was quiet,” Chau said.

 

Chau’s perspective changed once she began participating in the lab setting at Biogen first through a summer program and then in the mentorship program.

 

“Throughout the process, it was just really interesting,” she said. “It feels like we’re professionals—we get to experience everything hands-on,” she said.

 

Natural curiosity helped propel the students to success, said Carolyn Richards, Somerville High School Supervisor of Guidance and Testing, and Bill Rigney, a Science and Technology/Engineering Coordinator for Marlborough Public Schools.

 

“The real important piece for them, and because they’ve been so dedicated in high school, is that they know how to experiment,” Rigney said. “They know how to question. … They’re going to have to do those things in college—they already have the background, so it’s not going to be new to them.”

 

“And that’s what we’re hoping to do in the cohort—to engender that sense of curiosity,” Richards said about other Somerville students who are part of the school’s Life Science Career Development (LSCD) cohort, sponsored by MassBioEd.

 

Rigney said that biotech education and career development exercises are necessary in today’s schools.

 

“Biotech is today,” he said. “We’re beyond Watson and Crick. … We’ve got to move forward to the 21st century and what’s important for kids to know.”

 

That’s why Marlborough High School has created a full-year biotech course, and Somerville High School has developed two biotech courses that build on each other. All of the courses and extracurricular activities are working to fulfill the MassBioEd Foundation’s mission of getting students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering or math.

 

“Each of these programs is a touchpoint, a piece of the puzzle, in getting students hooked on scientific exploration,” said MassBioEd Executive Director Lance Hartford. “The more involved we get students, the more likely we are to see them enter our biotechnology workforce down the road.”

 

This year, Bhargo and Chau stayed in the mentoring program at Biogen’s Community Lab and competed in the ISEF against 1,600 students from across the world, even though the girls had to complete all their research out of school, on weekends and holidays.

 

At the ISEF in Reno, Nev., in May 2009, Bhargo and Chau once again competed with their biotech-focused projects. However, Chau competed with a new partner, Lola Yu, 17, of Somerville, with research that compared the effects of curcumin, a common Indian spice, versus chemotherapy on breast and ovarian cancer.

 

“We were initially interested in how natural substances reduce the proliferation of cells, so we researched a lot of natural substances, and we came across curcumin. It’s a very popular substance in labs today,” Chau said. “And chemotherapy is very expensive and causes lots of side effects.”

 

Chau and Yu found that curcumin does reduce the cancer cell growth rate, but to a lesser degree than chemotherapy.

 

Bhargo competed individually this year with her research that tested the effects of snake venom proteins on colon, prostate and ovarian cancer. She found that the venom does have a positive effect on these cancers.

 

Gundewar and Baur’s research focused on bioremediation of oil spills—a subject Gundewar read about by chance in a school textbook.

 

All the girls feel that participating in the ISEF was a valuable, “awesome” experience that will help them reach their goals, whatever they may be.

 

“I would just say, for me, even if I didn’t like science, I still would have gotten just as much out of it. You have to use your English skills to write your research paper. I did a lot of statistical analysis, too,” Gundewar said. “It’s a way to push yourself to new limits that you didn’t know you had. Even if you don’t like the research, it teaches you to stick at it.”

 

The girls’ mentors agree that the girls’ commitment to their respective projects has undoubtedly led to their success.

 

“There are sacrifices that need to be made to be part of this program,” said Sebastian LaGambina, a science teacher for 23 years at Somerville High School and Department Head. “They have identified this program to be so beneficial for them.”

 

Yu said she had to give up some extracurricular activities to participate in Biogen’s Community Lab and pursue the project that she entered in the ISEF, but that the sacrifices were worth it.

 

Yu and Bhargo said they would stick with participating in Biogen’s Community Lab their senior year of high school. Chau is planning to major in the field of science. Baur will pursue research at the University of California in Santa Barbara, and Gundewar has been accepted into the University of Rochester’s eight-year medical program, Rochester Early Medical Scholars (REMS).

 

“The ISEF was just so much fun and definitely the most inspiring, definitely the most magical experience ever,” Chau said. “We were part of the best of the entire world. It completely opened my mind. I really did like science, but the science fair just completely made me decide that science is what I want to do.”

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