Central Bucks Biotech Students Reveal College Choices At Signing Event

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Nineteen Central Bucks seniors enrolled in the district’s Biotechnology Partnership Program revealed their school choices during the program's first-ever biotech signing event.

Modeled after the popular sports signing day events, the students gathered at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Buckingham, where they have participated in research work for the past year to reveal their school choices before a room filled with parents and mentors.

“We’re really excited to celebrate our biotech seniors, showcasing the commitment they have to this program,” said Ramsey Polis, a student at Central Bucks South High School and a member of the Student STEM Experiential Learning Foundation (SSELF) “These are the brightest STEM minds from across the district and people who will ultimately become researchers, professors, doctors, STEM leaders and future brain surgeons of America. They certainly deserve to be celebrated for all their hard work and countless hours of research here at the center.”

Mark Hayden, coordinator of Biotech Programs/STEM Partnerships for the school district, commended the students from SSELF, a student-led nonprofit component of the program, for putting together the special recognition program and for working much of the past year to establish the nonprofit.

“A few minutes ago, I took a look at the finalized list of universities, scholarships, and special programs, and it is truly is incredible. Our students have earned millions of dollars and scholarship offers from all over the world. Our students have done a fantastic job this year. You are slated to head off to wonderful places to live and to learn. And you have the opportunity to start fresh and to be the person you want to be.”

Biotech Partnership program recipients reveal their college choices. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

Sharing their college choices at signing day. (Jeff Werner/Patch)

The biotech partnership program gives students the unique opportunity to take an accelerated AP Chemistry course and to participate in research on-site at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, one of the premier biotech incubators in the United States.

The PABC provides students with incredible hands-on learning experiences and exposure to real-world scientific research.

Every year, a select number of high school students are chosen from a pool of applicants to enroll in the program with the PA Biotechnology Center, where they are able to perform high-level research.

Laney Dare Hampton, who will continue her education at the University of Michigan, called the signing night impactful.

“I feel like all of my hard work has paid off. We worked so hard to get here, and to be able to say we’re committed to college is satisfying yet bittersweet. What we’re doing in lab here, you can’t get anywhere else. We’re all trying to soak up every last minute we have here.”

She’s planning to attend graduate school and earn her Ph.D. in a STEM-related field.

Abhay Chathuruthy will be attending Georgia Tech. He describes his experience with the program “as a really good opportunity for me to branch out and also to try something in the medical field.”

Through an internship, he learned a lot about drug discovery and delivery, and how the research in the field is progressing.

“It was a good opportunity to get experience in that field and what I want to do in the future.”

His future goal is to help develop medical devices and research that will help patients and their disease outcomes.

Devin Yang will be attending the University of Pennsylvania. “My experience was really great and opened a lot of opportunities for what I want to pursue," he said of the partnership program. "They have top-tier research facilities that enabled us to learn how to do research and real hands-on work that is beneficial not only to the Hepatitis B Foundation but all types of different diseases.

Anna Reis will be attending college at the Pennsylvania State University.

“It has been such a great experience, especially my time spent in the lab," she said. "That has been the most fulfilling because we are getting experiences that very few high school or even college students get.”

After Penn State, her goal is to earn her doctorate and then do research or clinical trials for fertility or immunology.

David Dougherty, who will also be attending Penn State, said the biotech partnership program offered him an opportunity to explore potential fields of study.

“Going into it, it was daunting, but the program makes it super approachable and gives you all the tools you need to do something beneficial to the world.” He spent his time working on vaccines for bird flu, which he called a major pandemic risk. "It felt very rewarding to be part of something that can help protect people.”

He’s planning on studying aerospace engineering. “I want to keep the biomedical field with me in some capacity.”

Megha Rao, who will be attending the University of Pittsburgh, called her time at the biotech center “a life-changing experience. I mean, no high schooler gets to do something like this. To not only have access to a research lab, but the mentorship is priceless. I worked in a lab that was hands on all the time, working with someone who has a degree in the field and could really spend time to teach me not just the technical ways of research but the analysis. Not a lot of people get exposure to that until they are at the graduate level. It opens a lot of doors and teaches you a lot of things.”

She’s planning on attending medical school and hopefully pursue a career in pediatrics.

Central Bucks East

• Athena Man will be attending Northeastern University in the fall, majoring in bioengineering and business administration. At Biotech, she worked for Willett Lab developing an anti-cancer therapeutic using curcumin, the active compound found in turmeric. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by pursuing research opportunities and expanding on the lab skills developed at the Biotech Center. In May, Athena attended ISEF, the hugely competitive international-level scientific research competition. At the competition, she received a special award from the Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association. The award comes with a $5000 prize.
• Nozima Sultonova will be attending Temple University in the fall, majoring in biochemistry. She received the Provost's Tuition Scholarship at Temple University. At Biotech, she worked for Willett Lab, testing previously identified inhibitors on MMP9 for therapeutic purposes of hEDS. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by getting involved in research positions at Temple.

Nozima Sultonova will be attending Temple University in the fall.

• Devin Yang will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, majoring in business and biology. He will be be part of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management at the University of Pennsylvania. At Biotech, he worked at Tang Lab developing an assay, which is essentially a measuring tool, that can be used to advance a new therapeutic called Reprogrammable ADAR Sensors (RADARS). He plans to continue his passion for STEM by studying biology and pursuing healthcare/research internships and positions throughout his college career.

Devin Yang will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.

Central Bucks West

• Haziq Ahmad will be attending Rutgers University in the fall, majoring in biomedical engineering. He will be part of the Honors College and Presidential Scholarship at Rutgers University. At Biotech, he worked for Willett Lab using biotechnology to develop Immobilized Enzyme Reactors for Bioremediation. Specifically he used Laccase Enzymes and made them into Immobilized Enzyme Reactors to degrade pollutants and purify water. He plans to continue his passion for STEM by being deeply involved in research and finding new labs and fields to explore.

Haziq Ahmad will be attending Rutgers University in the fall.

• Adhavan Balachandar will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering. At Biotech, he worked for Willett Lab, focusing on a CNS drug delivery platform to improve
  the efficacy of neurotherapeutics. He plans to continue his passion for STEM by joining labs related to drug delivery and neurodegenerative disease research. He also hopes to participate in the Formula SAE team.

Adhavan Balachandar will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.

• Laney Dare Hampton will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall, majoring in biochemistry. At Biotech, she worked at Willett Lab, focusing on a potential therapeutic target for hEDS, a connective tissue and joint disorder. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by joining UROP (research program to start research first semester), majoring in biochemistry, and exploring many clubs in STEM fields.

Laney Dare Hampton will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall.

• Ruhin Inder Shaheed will be attending the University of Toronto in the fall, majoring in biochemistry and physics. She will be part of the Honours Degree Program at the University of Toronto. At Biotech, she worked at Willett Lab, focusing on the basis of a more effective immunotherapy against cancer using immune checkpoint inhibitors. This therapy aims to strengthen the immune system to more effectively and selectively target and kill cancerous cells. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by studying Biochemistry/Physics and securing research internships to continue doing STEM research at the university.

.Ruhin Inder Shaheed will be attending the University of Toronto in the fall.

• Ellah Kohler will be attending Lafayette College in the fall, majoring in neuroscience (pre-medical track). She will be part of the Marquist Fellowship at Lafayette College.
• Anshika Lodha will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall, majoring in biomedical engineering. At Biotech, she worked at Willett Lab creating selective treatments for autoimmune diseases by combining pentraxin proteins, which are human immune system proteins, and nanobodies targeting different Fc-gamma receptors, which are proteins in the body that when overactivated, can cause many autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and more. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by actively pursuing undergraduate research opportunities with professors. She also hopes to join engineering and STEM clubs and seek internships in biomedical or healthcare industry.

Anshika Lodha will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall..

• Poojitha Medi will be attending the University of Virginia in the fall, majoring in Biology and American Studies (Pre-Med Track).
• Anna Reis will be attending The Pennsylvania State University in the fall, majoring in biochemistry & molecular biology. At Biotech, she worked with Greene Street Pharmaceuticals, developing and optimizing a transdermal patch to administer a drug called nebivolol, which treats hypertension. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and potentially double majoring with Biotechnology. She plans to begin doing research in her spring semester of freshman year, she also plans on joining various STEM based clubs and organizations.

Anna Reis will be attending the Pennsylvania State University in the fall.

Central Bucks South

• Abhay Chathuruthy will be attending Georgia Institute of Technology in the fall, majoring in biomedical engineering.
  At Biotech, he worked with Conifer Point Pharmaceuticals, identifying which biologically meaningful factors beyond nucleotide sequence most strengthen computational siRNA
  efficacy prediction across different genes. Additionally, an interactive user interface was developed to translate the findings into a practical research tool, enabling researchers
  to determine the effectiveness of their siRNA sequences effectively and efficiently. He plans to continue his passion for STEM by joining a lab and pursuing research.

Abhay Chathuruthy will be attending Georgia Institute of Technology in the fall.

• David Dougherty will be attending The Pennsylvania State University in the fall, majoring in aerospace engineering. He will be part of the Schreyer Honors College and Academic Excellence Scholarship at Penn State. At Biotech, he worked in Willett Lab developing a new vaccine to target H5N1, commonly known as bird flu. He used pentraxin proteins as a platform to build this vaccine, with the potential to reduce side effects while maintaining efficacy. He plans to continue his passion for STEM by studying aerospace engineering, where he can incorporate several of his scientific interests into a field that continues to develop rapidly. He wants to find a lab where he can take his research experience and apply it to aerospace engineering. To keep pursuing his interest in the biomedical field, he is considering working with life support systems/the interface between spacecraft and the living organisms they contain.

David Dougherty will be attending The Pennsylvania State University in the fall.

• Nisha Karunanidhi will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, majoring in pharmacy. She will be part of the six-year PharmD (2+4) program at the University of Pittsburgh. At Biotech, she worked in Willett Lab, advancing an approach to DENV vaccine development utilizing pentraxin proteins. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by pursuing an education in health sciences on an accelerated pre-pharmacy track into a PharmD.

Nisha Karunanidhi will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall.

• Shreejith Krishnamoorthy will be attending the
  Georgia Institute of Technology in the fall, majoring in biomedical engineering. At Biotech, he worked in Willett Lab, designing and engineering a protein molecule to target and mitigate the effects of a genetic mutation associated with EDS, specifically the CORIN gene mutation. He plans to continue his passion for STEM by studying biomedical bngineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In May, Shreejith attended the ISEF.

• You-Jun Liou will be attending Case Western Reserve University in the fall, majoring in Biology (Pre-med track).
• Megha Rao will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, majoring in neuroscience and psychology (Pre-med). She will be part of the Frederick Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh. At Biotech, she worked in Sayeed Lab studying mRNA variants to determine viability to act as biomarkers to diagnose Hepatocellular Carcinoma through the liquid biopsy. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by continuing research with professors or at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Megha Rao will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall.

• Rachel Thomas will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall, majoring in neuroscience. She will be part of the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh. At Biotech, she was in Greene Street Pharmaceuticals, engineering a novel method of treating the debilitating neurological disorder multiple sclerosis: a patch that delivers the commonly prescribed drug fingolimod through the skin. She plans to continue her passion for STEM by pursuing research focused more on neurological disorders in different labs.

Rachel Thomas will be attending the University of Pittsburgh in the fall.