Huntington Duo Named Semi-finalists in Siemens Competition
Huntington High School juniors Holly Flores and Julianna Coraor have been named semi-finalists in the prestigious Siemens competition. The impressive recognition places the duo among the top high school science research students in the United States.
They did not make the finals, but they are only juniors and show amazing promise," said Lori Pyzocha Kenny, Huntington High School's science research program teacher. This year's Siemens Competition drew 2,033 registrants and 1,372 projects. The ranks of semi-finalists total 312. The 94 regional finalists come from 36 states.
"This is a fantastic honor for Holly and Juli," Huntington Superintendent John J. Finello said. "Only elite science research students in the country enter this competition, so to be named a semi-finalist is an outstanding achievement."
Last year, Ms. Flores applied to the very exclusive Garcia MRSEC (Materials Research Science and Engineering Center) summer program at Stony Brook University and was accepted. Her research in the university's labs centered on differentiating adult dental pulp stem cells into full osteoblasts by means of engineered polymer thin films and electrospun fibers.
Ms. Flores' research project is titled Dental Pulp Stem Cell Growth and Differentiation on Different Polystyrene, Polybutadiene, Poly(4-vinylpyridine) Copolymer Substrates. "Holly joined my research class in her freshman year and she has been extremely interested in all the sciences, particularly particle physics and biochemistry," Mrs. Kenny said.
The data that Ms. Flores and her partner, Neha Kinariwalla collected will be published in a scientific journal after additional research is completed at Stony Brook. "They are currently looking into RNA imaging and growing a tissue culture of the differentiated osteoblasts to perform toxicology on," Mrs. Kenny said.
Ms. Flores has already been accepted to Garcia MRSEC next summer and she intends to do research during the current school year as well. "She plans on going into the research field for both college and a career," Mrs. Kenny said.
Ms. Coraor has spent most of her life involved in the sciences. Though she is only a junior, she is already taking an honors physics course at Stony Brook University.
"Last summer she attended a science research program at Stony Brook on materials science," Ms. Kenny said. "There she conducted research on dental pulp stem cells, a form of adult stem cells, and hydrogels, solid gel-like substances that are 99 percent composed of water."
Using these materials, Ms. Coraor investigated the ability of these stem cells to learn from their environment. Her work focused on whether these cells, once differentiated on the hydrogel into osteoblasts, would still act like osteoblasts even if they were removed from the hydrogel and placed on a non-inducing surface such as glass.
"Juli plans on continuing this research by studying the mineral matrix produced by these differentiated cells to see if it is in fact hydroxyapatite, the main component of bone, or some amorphous precursor that is composed of calcium phosphate," Mrs. Kenny said.
Ms. Coraor expects to continue focusing on the sciences in college and ultimately hopes to become a professor at a research university.
"The Siemens Competition in math, science and technology recognizes remarkable talent early on, fostering individual growth for high school students who are willing to challenge themselves through science research," according to the Siemens Foundation website. "Through this competition, students have an opportunity to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school. It is administered by The College Board and funded by the Siemens Foundation."