Three Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students were named National STEM Challenge Finalists.
The 2024 National STEM Challenge is a competition for students in the sixth through 12th grades presented by the U.S. Department of Education and EXPLR, an organization focused on providing middle and high school students virtual and hands-on learning resources. The National STEM Challenge encourages students to design a STEM project using scientific method or engineering design processes.
ASMSA students who were selected as Finalists included:
- Gisselle Ellington, a senior from North Little Rock;
- Shelby Norris, a junior from Alma; and
- Aarohi Sonputri, a senior from Little Rock.
Ellington’s project explored the interaction between two proteins and the G-quadruplex, a non-canonical DNA structure. She conducted her research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Ellington chose the topic for a very personal reason.
“When I was in the seventh grade, my great-grandmother passed away from glioblastoma,” Ellington said. “I chose to research this topic at UAMS because I wanted to learn more about glioblastoma and how it can be treated. During the last experiment of my project, I got to work with a glioblastoma cell.”
Norris explored a way to reduce the spread of bacteria by using ultraviolet light to reduce the growth of bacteria as well as reducing waste. Norris compared the growth of bacteria in a tester container of concealer makeup as well as non-tester containers. Using ultraviolet light, she was able to reduce bacteria growth in the testers. She was then able to develop a brush specifically for concealer makeup to prevent the growth of bacteria which could spread disease as well as addressing environmental issues created by single-use applicators that become waste.
“I was interested in this topic because the waste of single-use applicators is something I have seen all my life, along with the gross displays of tester makeup in stores,” Norris said. “I wanted to develop a way to combat this issue, and I was able to use the engineering design method.”
Sonputri also conducted her research at UAMS, seeking a potential therapy for patients who have diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Her research investigated targeting CARD11, a cancer-promoting gene in B-cell lymphoma cells, by stabilizing the G-quadruplex within the cell and thus preventing additional cancer growth.
“I was drawn to researching G-quadruplexes as they challenged my preconceived notion that DNA only exists in the double-helix canonical structure. The opportunity to explore a subset of cellular biology that is still not much-researched excited me,” Sonputri said.