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Plano ISD Teacher, Three Students Participate in 2024 UT Soutwestern STARS Program

August 9, 2024

Plano ISD was well represented in the 2024 UT Southwestern STARS Summer Research Program.

Out of 900 student applicants, 51 were selected for participation, including three students from Plano ISD. The UT Southwestern STARS Summer Research Program is an eight-week, non-residential program designed to allow teachers and students to work side by side with a faculty host in a research laboratory. Participants present the results of their research at the end of the summer.

The program encourages students in North Texas with excellent academic records and a love of science to pursue science-related fields. High school juniors completing the Summer Research Program act as emissaries at their home school by giving presentations outlining their research experiences. Applicants had to be at least 16 years old by June 1 and be a rising senior enrolled in high school in the United States. 

Additionally, Plano West Senior High School AP Biology Teacher Julia Drake also participated in the program for a second consecutive summer. 

Evelyn Ding, Plano West Senior High School

Image of 20204 Summer Research Intern Evelyn Ding

 

Evelyn Ding researched in the Radiology/Medical Physics lab under the mentorship of Dr. Jacquilne Gallet. Her project focused on utilizing 3D printing technology to construct a realistic spine model; which can be applied in simulation-based education and training in the medical field.

Vishruth Ganesh, Plano Senior High School

image of plano senior high student vishruth ganesh

Vishuth Ganesh researched in the Legal Lab on the Context Maintenance and Retrieval (CMR) model of memory search. This predicts how context and different stimuli affects how the brain clusters and recalls related information by looking at functions such as conditional response probability. 

Ayushi Savla, Plano East Senior High School

image of Ayuishi savla

Ayushi Savla researched in the Minnal Lab, investigating the role of CXCR4 and CXCL12 in SCLC and different drugs, along with possible treatments in order to inhibit or deactivate the cytokine signaling response.

Julia Drake, AP Biology Teacher at Plano West Senior High School

image of julia drake.

Julia Drake returned to the Mason Lab for her second summer with the STARS Program for teachers. She studied the effect of the cancer drug Cabozantinib individually and in combination with a novel vascular disrupting agent on kidney cancer. She integrated her research from last summer into her classroom and provided students with an opportunity to perform authentic data analysis of tumor growth, connect mutations to loss of cell cycle control and review experimental design.