TeamMetro PTSO Request for Funds
Maryam Bainazar and Sophie Maharry, 4th Year Students
April 3rd, 2015
Proposal
Metro High School has served a sanctuary wherein students are encouraged to not only succeed academically, but professionally as well. It is with great pride that we represent our school’s fundamental principles everyday in the college level courses we partake in as well as the internships, which we currently hold.
Sophie, a senior at Metro High School, began interning at Dr. de la Chapelle’s lab at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in June 2013, as part of the Bodies Learning Center. Under Dr. Ann-Kathrin Eisfeld’s mentorship and Mrs. Hayes’ guidance, she was able to grow and advance in the field of science and research. At the Bodies Capstone Presentation in May 2014, her mentor was very impressed by the other students in Bodies and immediately decided she would like another student. Maryam started her internship at the same lab in August of 2014.
Maryam began by assisting Dr. Eisfeld with her projects as she learned basic and eventually advanced lab techniques. Since then, she has been working on her own project as well. She currently investigates the gene SRSF2 and anintronicmicroRNA-636 located within, and their opposing effects on alternative splicing in acute myeloid leukemia patients. Sophie’s main project has focused onelucidating the role of microRNA-3662 in an extensively researched, yet never fully understood, locus on chromosome 6q23, which has been highly associated with many hematologic parameters. Her manuscript, for which she is the first author, is currently under review for publication at Nature Genetics.
The American Association for Cancer Research’s (AACR) Annual Meeting is hosting a special program for high school student’s interested in the field of research this year. The meeting will take place April 17-22nd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the conference, in addition to presenting our own work, we willnetwork with researchers from all over the world andlearn about other areas of cancer research.Each of us has prepared material and posters to be presented on the work we have been doing in the lab. The AACR’s conference is the ideal environment for us, as students, to grow and expand into the professional world. We are thrilled at the opportunity to receive feedback and present our research findings in a public arena.
In light of this, we request assistance in funding of our trip to the conference. The total expense for the trip, excluding conference registration, would be $700. Because of our participation in the high school program, AACR has kindly waived our registration fee for the entire conference ($525 each). We are requesting that TeamMetro fund as much of the remaining cost for travel and hotel as they see fit.
A little over a year ago, Sophie presented to TeamMetro, withthe objective to open a door for Metro students to become involved in research at the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center.
After Sophie presented at the AACR’s annual meeting in 2014, several researchers from Ohio State came to her mentor, Dr. Eisfeld, in awe of her success and level of experience, which she showcased. Dr. Eisfeldreadily directed them to the Bodies Learning Center, and as a result, Maria Krantz, a junior, now interns in Dr. James Blachly’s lab.TejaParasa,another Bodies student,works at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Dr. Xiaoming He’s lab.In just one year, Bodies, Metro, and TeamMetro have helped show researchers the importance of getting high school students involved in cancer research at such a young age. Our school’s STEM focus has greatly expanded with Bodies to involve student research with outstanding mentors.
We appreciate TeamMetro for taking the time to deliberate our request. We will be proud to represent both Metro Early College High School and the Bodies Learning Center at this internationally renowned cancer research conference. Please consider this proposal, as we are financially dependent students with hopes to pursue excellence in our final year of high school.
Thank you for yoursupport and consideration, and best regards,
Maryam Bainazar and Sophie Maharry