Kennedy seniors named rising scientists

Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s John F. Kennedy High School seniors Maximilian Bazil and Claire Kelly spent their summer completing graduate-level scientific research and experiments and their efforts were recognized by the 2016 Child Mind Institute as Rising Scientists.

Kelly relocated to Illinois during the summer months to work on her psychopharmacology project, “The Impulsivity as a Predictor for Enhanced Attentional Bias Towards Novel Drug-Paired Cues” at the University of Chicago.

A three-year Advanced Science Research student, Kelly is also working on a second project involving Parkinson’s treatments.

She said the ASR program has taught her to “think like a scientist.”

“I’ve learned how to work better with peers as well as professionals,” Kelly said. “These projects have also pushed me to work harder than I ever had before.”

Kelly is hoping to publish new data soon and has taken these finding to numerous scientific competitions already. She hopes to pursue an education in neuroscience in English, which is a narrative style of practice.
Bazil said his project, “The Intra-Arterial Injection and Differentiation of Autologous, Genetically Modified Human Endothelial Progenitor Cells as a Targeted Drug Delivery Therapy for Stroke in a Human Umbilical Artery Model,” has a “lot of ideas that are preliminarily supported” by his research.

“This could be a fast-acting therapy in the future [for stroke victims],” he added. “I’m already forward thinking to human trials.”

Bazil completed his research at Mount Sinai Hospital in the department of neurosurgery. An emergency medical captain of the junior squad of the Bellmore-Merrick EMS, Bazil said he’s always been interested in neurology, however, has become intrigued by the vascular aspect as well.

He has had an abstract published in the Annals of Neurology and would like to pursue a focus in neuroscience, specializing in a pediatric role. His other research project, completed in May, focused on the Development of a Cerebral Angiography Calibration Model Using Relative Arterial Diameters.

The pair was selected from more than 30 applicants. As a Child Mind Institute Rising Scientist, they will present their research on Oct. 25 at a ceremony. They will also receive a $1,000 scholarship for college expenses.

Photo: Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.