Children's honors young researchers at science fairs

When the words "brilliant" and "innovative" come to mind, you're likely to think of Children's Medical Center, but you also should think of the many talented high school students in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who are pursuing their science and technology dreams.

This spring, Amanda Lu, a junior at Plano West High School, and Vijay Kuppurajan, a sophomore at the Talented and Gifted Magnet School in Dallas, were the inaugural winners of the Children's Medical Center Young Researcher Award.

Dr. Steven Rodrigues, a resident at Children's, presents one of two inaugural Children's Medical Center Young Researcher Award to Vijay Kupperajan, a sophomore at the Gifted and Talented Magnet School in Dallas. The award was presented in recognition of his project on E. coli contamination in area lakes for the Dallas Independent School District Science Fair.

Recognizing young talent

The award, given at the Dallas and Plano Independent School Districts annual science fairs, recognizes a talented young person who has dedicated his or her time and talents to a project that seeks to find a better way for mankind to live longer and better. For their efforts, Lu and Kuppurajan were each honored with a gold medal and a $250 stipend for assistance with their projects' costs.

Lu's project was entitled "Effect of HT-HBOC-201 on Neutrophil and Endothelial Cell Activation" and concerned a blood substitute for which she was seeking to reduce side effects. Kuppurajan's project was entitled "The Great Hunt for Escherichia Coli: Part II" and investigated levels of the bacterium in area lakes. Both young researchers have worked on and modified their projects for two years.

Volunteer judges

Children's provided volunteer judges from its medical staff for the district-wide fairs. This year, the judges included residents Drs. Monika Gadhia, Sarah Dacey and Steven Rodrigues for the DISD fair and Drs. Joseph Forbess, William Scott, Warren Snodgrass, Peter Stavinoha, Ph.D., and Kristy Hagar, Ph.D. Drs. Forbess, Scott and Snodgrass are the respective chiefs of Cardiothoracic Surgery, clinical Cardiology and Urology services at Children's. Drs. Rodrigues and resident Dr. Lauren Gore also participated in the PISD judging.

While judging science fair projects overall, the reviewers also take the opportunity to evaluate projects from the categories of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Medicine and Health, and Microbiology. They paid particular attention to two criteria: the project's applicability to medicine and the strength of its testing of hypotheses.

Tags: science fair, Children's Medical Center