Science Research Team Vies in Medical Marvels Competition
A team of seven Huntington High School freshmen and sophomore science research students participated in North Shore-LIJ Health System's Medical Marvels competition last week.
Caitlyn Knowles, Emily Shutman, Carolyn Cimetta, Charlotte Levinson, Sabrina Palacios, Anna Brosoff, and Scott Venturino vied in the intellectual battle that played out at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset.
Huntington's team was coached by student-teacher Alian Lian under the supervision of science research teachers Dame Forbes and Lori Kenny. "The competition tested the ability of high school research students to integrate methods of biomedical, social, behavioral, and technological tools in order to come up with a solution to treat a potential infectious break out," Mrs. Kenny said.
Participants were asked to present their solution to the problem posed through the use of a poster containing information and illustrations to support their analysis. Each respective poster was visually and verbally presented to Feinstein Institute staff members, as well as to fellow participants and faculty members from competing high schools.
"The teams were judged on their ability to successfully explain how they would implement their multidisciplinary team approach, based on categories such as their plans to assess the potential location and cause of the outbreak, plans to investigate potential interventions to treat the outbreak, project management plan, a crisis management plan, a communications and public relations plans and a plan for the use of existing technology or developing new technology to achieve the goals of the project," Mrs. Kenny said.
As the Huntington team walked through the doors of The Feinstein Institute a notable energy could be felt. "The students were very excited to present their poster to an interested audience, explaining their reasoning and theory behind their solutions and answering any questions that were thrown their way," Mrs. Kenny said.
The competition and awards ceremony that followed exposed the participating students to new ideas in how to go about incorporating various subject matters in a cohesive manner to solve an authentic potential dilemma.
The Medical Marvels program is designed to encourage freshmen and sophomores to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
"I was talking with a team of participating students at the Medical Marvel event and they told me that one of the most valuable things they learned through this program was putting together a team of people who had to come together and solve a problem," Feinstein Institute President Dr. Kevin J. Tracey said. "This life skill is invaluable. At the Feinstein Institute, we focus on building cohesive teams that share a common goal; to create the knowledge today that is going to prevent the diseases of tomorrow. If students have any interest at all in joining this effort, they should consider a career in science and healthcare."