Learning - NYAS

A woman poses with her research poster during an Academy event.

Junior Academy team works together to solve the problem of the lack of refrigeration in rural Tanzania.

Published March 3, 2020

By Marie Gentile and Roger Torda

Belinda Baraka Boniphace, 17, of Tanzania, runs an online market connecting sellers to buyers.

She noticed that high temperatures in her area and a lack of cold storage options were significantly impacting the quality of produce available in her town of Dar es Salaam and nationwide. Vegetables would start to spoil 6-24 hours post-harvest.

Luckily, Belinda is part of the Junior Academy, which brings together teams of students from around the world to collaborate on solutions for real-world problems. Belinda told her fellow teammates about the problem her country was facing, and together they were inspired to do something about it.

Developing a No-Power Fridge

The team developed a no-power fridge, Global Off-the-Grid Duralast Evaporative Cold Keepers (GO-DECK), made locally from landfill-bound materials such styrofoam that reduce temperatures and also regulates humidity during storage and transport. The food transport/storage system uses water instead of electricity to keep vegetables cool.

They experimented with six different models improve upon their refrigeration system, inspired in part by Zeer pot designs. A Zeer pot, also known as a pot-in-pot refrigerator, is used in rural regions that have limited access to electricity. The technology works by cooling through evaporation.

After experimenting, the team landed on an end product that is made from 100 percent recycled materials and can be easily distributed to local farmers. The team believes the system has the potential to save millions of metric tons of food per year, all for a nominal cost.

Building upon the success of their first solution, Belinda and one of her teammates, Talar Terzian, are now developing an online market for farmers. They are expanding on the Go-Deck Unit to offer hand washing machines, and their latest water carrier, to local women in Tanzania.

“I wish to help local farmers and women take advantage of their agriculture and gain the best profit for their hard labor,” Belinda says.

Overcoming Obstacles

However, Belinda has had to overcome many hurdles in order to accomplish her goal. She’s faced technical difficulties with internet and power outages due to weather and flooding in her area.

Also, her local school system is limited and not able to support the research that Belinda wants to pursue. Therefore, Talar and her mother, who live in Gainsville, Fla., helped Belinda prepare for SAT exams and complete scholarship applications so that she can go to university. Belinda says she’s been able to thrive because of the connections she’s made through The Junior Academy.

“By developing global connections like those I made with Talar in the US, I will be able to improve my business and help others,” Belinda adds.

This amazing endeavor is one of many innovative collaborations occurring all over the world through the Junior Academy.

A New Approach to Natural Disaster Preparation

A graphic illustration of people responding to a flooding disaster.

A natural disaster inspired one high school student to use science to help others.

Published October 1, 2019

By Mandy Carr

Luis G. Alvarez, 17, is a member of the Junior Academy at Colegio Integral Mesoamericano Patzicia in Guatemala; a volatile environment that is subject to earthquakes, tropical storms and volcanic eruptions. And on June 3, 2018, he experienced the eruption of Volcan de Fuego.

“I remember hearing something like rain falling on the leaves,” said Alvarez. “At first, I didn’t recognize what it was, but then I realized it was ashes and sand, not rain. I told my parents, and we quickly got into the car and left.”

According to Reuters, more than 190 people were killed, many of whom died in their homes because they were unable to escape. That prompted Alvarez to do something about it.

“This event had a pretty big impact on me. I wanted to do something so that more people would survive and recover from these traumatic experiences,” he said.

The Junior Academy’s Natural Disasters: Relief & Recovery Challenge

Alvarez came across The Junior Academy’s Natural Disasters: Relief & Recovery Challenge sponsored by the S&P Foundation from a Facebook ad, and saw an opportunity. He promptly completed the application form on Launchpad, the Academy’s collaboration platform and was selected by the project team leader to work on the Challenge with three other students from Hungary, Vietnam and the United States.

Using Hurricane Katrina as their case study, the students noticed that mental health was a serious side effect of the hurricane, and largely went untreated.

To address this deficit in disaster relief, the team created a smartphone-based community survey app to gather critical information in high-risk and disaster-prone areas that would provide a useful baseline for responders during a crisis.

The survey collects information such as residents’ financial and employment status, mindset, living habits and mental health. The information is then used to help tailor recovery efforts when a disaster strikes.

Studying the Physiological Damage

Like his team found in the Hurricane Katrina case study, many residents in Alvarez’s community suffered physiological damage following the volcanic eruption. He also found that his community wasn’t prepared because they underestimated the devastation caused by the eruption and there was a lack of information surrounding the event.

“We had radio service and a cellphone signal,” he said, “yet we were never made aware that the volcano had high levels of activity. All these factors combined to shape my contributions and suggestions during the project.”

According to Alvarez, while the survey solution is based on the Hurricane Katrina situation, its principles can be applied to all natural disaster preparation.

“Natural disasters are often socially and economically disastrous for communities,” said Carolyn C. Cavicchio, Director, Corporate Responsibility; Vice President, S&P Global Foundation.

“The type of solution that these students developed has the potential to reduce valuable time and resources when disasters strike. Moreover, Challenges like this help young people to develop and refine important problem-solving skills that are crucial in today’s workplace,” she says.

Learn more about The New York Academy of Sciences’ Innovation Challenges.

Improving the Diagnosis of Rare Diseases

Five high school students pose for the camera.

Meet the winning team of the 2019 Junior Academy Genomics Challenge.

Published October 18, 2019

By Marie Gentile, Richard Birchard, and Mandy Carr

According to the World Health Organization, there are 5,000 to 8,000 rare diseases, most of them with a genetic basis. But errors in diagnosis can delay the implementation of proper treatments, especially for those in poor areas of the world where access to healthcare is limited.

Now, six high school students who participated in the Junior Academy’s Genomics Challenge, sponsored by Regeneron and Medidata, have developed a prototype for a better way to test the genetic code and thereby improve the diagnosis of rare diseases.

The students (Evangelos Kassos, 18, from Karditsa Greece; Ana Stratan, 18, from Bucharest, Romania; Aditi Gupta, 18, from Delhi, India; Monish Singhal, 14, from Bengaluru, India; Athena Yao, 17, from Wantagh, New York, USA; and Ana Bonavides-Aguilar, 17, from Cuernavaca, Morelos, México) impressed the Challenge judges with their comprehensive four-step approach, which addressed rare disease diagnosis, access to consultation, patient privacy, and knowledge distribution.

An Innovative Approach

Their innovative “iDNA Protocol” utilizes blockchain technology to ensure patient privacy, while increasing data sharing across research entities through their Doc2Doc platform model. Better data sharing facilitates collaboration between researchers, doctors, and patients, leading to more efficient and personalized diagnosis and treatment.

A “Prion Detection Kit” will help patients identify neurodegenerative disorders through at-home urine tests. This early detection kit complements the “GenePack” testing and treatment protocol, which tests newborns for genetic diseases and connects people living in isolated areas with research centers.

For their solution, the team received an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to attend the 2019 Global STEM Alliance Summit.

Here, the students share their thoughts on the project and why they’re excited about its potential impact on medically underserved communities:

“Most of all, we thought about who we could help. We fashioned our project to cater to the needs of underserved communities.”
Ana Stratan

Diverse Perspectives

“I had no idea what was waiting for me when I posted ‘Wanna be the next Watson?’ on Launchpad. Five amazing people from around the world joined me in taking on the Genomics Challenge,” explains Evangelos Kassos. “Along with our mentor, we created a fantastic space full of creativity, where we could all thrive.”

Multidisciplinary Focus

“All of us had a focus—biology, technology, informatics—and we thought about the Challenge through these different lenses. Most of all, we thought about who we could help. We fashioned our project to cater to the needs of underserved communities,” says Ana Stratan. “Periodically we asked for input from people outside of the project to better understand our target audience.”

People Aren’t Numbers

“Our mentor explained to us how dire situations could get. We realized that while everyone was looking at the numbers, no one was realizing that these numbers are people,” laments Aditi Gupta. “I have lived in both a first world country and a third world country. I’m thankful for having access to the American healthcare system because India is still developing theirs.”

A Diagnosis-Focused Solution

”We realized that treatment is a different problem. The mere diagnosis of the disease can be troublesome,” says Monish Singhal. “We spoke with Prasanna Shirol, the co-founder and board director of the Organization for Rare Diseases India (ORDI), whose daughter suffers from Pompe disease. His daughter was diagnosed inaccurately several times. This example led to our diagnosis-focused solution, which emphasizes early identification of a disease.”

“We realized that while everyone was looking at the numbers, no one was realizing that these numbers are people.”

A Unified Approach

“Our solution has the potential to improve lives and be implemented effectively in existing communities globally, in a cost-effective manner,” says Athena Yao. “Our approach involves changes in the rare disease diagnosis and treatment process, addressing the different aspects of the problem. We employed our knowledge, resources, and understanding of global perspectives to create a solution that is viable for various areas.”

Achievable Impact

”The ideas we are proposing are groundbreaking, innovative, and achievable,” concludes Ana Bonavides-Aguilar. “Even though some are more challenging to attain (like creating the iDNA Protocol) there are others that if research begins, they could change the way genetic diseases are being detected, like the Antibody Testing Kit. Therefore, people suffering from rare diseases could—and will—have a chance at a high quality of life.”

Want to tackle global problems like this one? Learn more about the Junior Academy.

Developing Practical Solutions to Everyday Challenges

The Academy works with partners in industry, academia and government to develop solutions for everyday challenges.

Published October 1, 2019

By Robert Birchard

For more than a decade the Academy has worked with partners in industry, academia and government to identify solutions to every day challenges through its innovation challenges.

“These challenges provide a platform for people to hone their STEM skills on a level playing field — no lab, credentials or financial commitment required — and apply them in an interdisciplinary, real world environment,” explains Chenelle Bonavito Martinez, MS, Vice President, STEM Talent Programs.

Challenges are not just about working on a solution to a problem. They also provide an opportunity for students to practice time and project management, as well as communication and presentation skills.

Lessening the Impact of Wildfires

In one such challenge, a team of five students from The Junior Academy in five different countries devised a solution to lessen the impact of wildfires.

Not only do [wildfires] destroy homes, they also halt local economies, raze whole habitats, injure and kill many, send carcinogens into the air, and so much more,” says Matt Friedman, 16, United States, a member of the winning Wildfire team. “Understanding the factors related to real-world problems can help us solve them.”

The team looked at how to best counter the wildfire embers and maintain adequate water supply in pumping stations without electricity. In addition to the scientific and engineering questions, the group also grappled with questions of cost-effectiveness and how to implement their solution in already existing communities.

“I think it is really easy to fall into the trap of putting science into neat little boxes where each idea or development belongs in its own discipline,” says Wildfire team member Isabelle Robertson, 18, New Zealand. “But the real world isn’t like that and global problems require us to use collaborative approaches and tie aspects of different disciplines into one solution.”

Devising Healthier Snack Options

Rubi Lopez, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and Bianka Martinez, Technological Institute of Morelia were completing their undergraduate degrees, when they won the Pepsico Healthy Snack Challenge, devising a healthy snack that would appeal to children. Their solution required not just extensive nutrition research, but also thorough market research.

“My experience with this challenge expanded my vision of the food industry and focused my attention on creating bigger impact in the world,” says Martinez, a biochemical engineer who recently finished a Master’s degree in Food Technology and Innovation at the Polytechnic School of Design in Milan, Italy.

“The best way to solve worldwide problems is by applying scientific skills combined with creative and design skills. Science lays the foundations, the procedures and the means to solve problems, while the design thinking helps us create innovative and unique solutions by focusing on people,” says Martinez.

“Scientific skills are like a yellow brick road that lead you to the truth. You don’t know if Oz is near or far, but you know you’re on the right path,” echoes Lopez an international business major. “I participated in this challenge despite it not being directly related to my major. I thought my skills could be useful and that this challenge offered the opportunity to learn new things. It’s not necessary to have a science degree to generate solutions to real problems, but critical thinking and constant curiosity are always necessary to make a positive change.”

“The tools and techniques of science helps people make breakthrough discoveries in understanding phenomena,” says Bhavna Mehra, General Manager, Infosys Science Foundation. “Therefore, science and its pursuers and practitioners have the responsibility, along with the vision, to solve these problems.”

A Real-World Scenario

This belief in the responsibilities of a scientist led to the development of the Infosys Science Foundation Nutrition Challenge. Originally envisioned as a way to raise awareness about the number of deaths attributed to malnutrition in children under the age of five, the challenge also gave participants a platform to develop.

“The skills of observing, experimenting, data collection and applying a concept in a real-world scenario were all tested as the solvers worked on the nutrition challenge,” explains Mehra.

The top two teams — team Podible and team Nutri-APP — came up with their own hypotheses, collected data and applied the results to come up with executable plans to tackle malnutrition.

“Cultivating an understanding and practice of scientific thinking in all fields will go a long way in helping solve social, economic and civic issues, says Mehra.”

The Need for Centralized Info in Crisis Management

Junior Academy students develop an app that addresses the immediate mental health needs of those impacted by hurricanes and other traumatic natural crises, much of which is worsened because of the lack of centralized information during crisis scenarios.

Published May 1, 2019

By Mandy Carr

Four high school students from around the globe came together for the Junior Academy‘s Natural Disasters: Relief & Recovery Challenge to create a solution that could help reduce future devastation. The team designed a response model that could be used for many types of disasters, not just hurricane. They used Hurricane Katrina as their case study with a focus on addressing mental health needs for those impacted.

In their analysis, the lack of central information is a common struggle for those responding to disasters. To address that struggle, the team determined that gathering critical information in high-risk and disaster-prone areas before disasters happen would provide a useful baseline for responders. To that end, they created a smartphone-based community survey app that can regularly collect information about residents financial and employment status, mindset, living habits, and mental health. These same survey tools could then also be used after disasters to understand what has shifted. Additionally it might access how to tailor interventions and where critical needs and assets exist.

The team’s winning solution was one of 40 submitted. It garnered them a trip to New York City for the Global STEM Alliance Summit, held July-July 26, 2019.

Meet the students and learn about why they feel passionate about their idea:

Luis G. Alvarez

Luis G. Alvarez, 17, is from Colegio Integtral Mesoamericano Patzicia in Guatemala. He has personal experience with natural disasters following the eruption of Volcan de Fuego in 2018. He and his family were required to evacuate.

“I remember getting some tools and hearing something like rain falling on the fallen leaves,” said Alvarez. “At first, I didn’t recognize what it was, but once I put on my raincoat, I realized it was ashes and sand, not rain. I told my parents, and we quickly got into the car and left.”

This inspired him to participate in the Natural Disasters challenge.

Samiksha Raviraja

“Looking at the world around, there are events happening constantly,” said Samiksha Raviraja, 17, from Renaissance High School in Charlottesville, VA. “Some of the most haunting ones are those that happen in nature and result in great damage to communities. I wanted to be able to help in some way.”

It scared her to see the disasters that were happening across the globe on TV. The word “disaster” was what drew her to this challenge in particular.

“While procedures exist to help people in the best possible way to save their lives, not many procedures exist that look into the mental health of the patient after a disaster has happened,” said Raviraja. “With PTSD, it is possible for the trauma to be passed down to children.”

Eszter Varga

Natural disasters are something Eszter Varga, 19, from Szerb Antal High School in Budapest, Hungary has always wanted to help resolve, especially because they are “becoming an emerging issue with climate change.”

“The part that really touched me and my fellow teammates, was the fact that post-Katrina, PTSD claimed thousands of lives,” said Varga.

“We discovered the mental health aspect of disaster relief is typically an untreated issue.”

Thuy Tran

Thuy Tran, 16, from Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted in Nam Dinh, Vietnam, echoed the team’s desire to focus on mental health when creating their solution.

“Hurricane Katrina claimed many lives post-disaster because of rushed treatment ideas, poorly planned information flow, as well as lack of education and data gathering,” said Tran.

Inspired to Fight Cancer and Empower Girls

An image of a stethoscope and a cancer awareness ribbon.

Sthuthi Satish is exploring her interest in a variety of STEM fields through her participation in the Junior Academy, but her first experience with the wonders of science started very close to home.

Published May 1, 2019

By Mandy Carr

Sthuthi Satish can’t remember when she started dreaming of being a doctor. What she does remember is being seven years old and looking at her mother’s medical charts showing stage two cancer. Her mom underwent surgery and beat cancer and Sthuthi’s love for surgery began.

The 15 year-old, who attends Bangalore International School in India, admits to not understanding the complications of surgery then, but saw the possibilities of it. Today, she hopes to become a neurosurgeon.

“My love for the brain is rather recent,” she said. “I am fascinated by the fact that the brain controls pretty much all conscious actions in the human body, and yet we know so little about it.”

Building Upon Previous STEM Experience

Sthuthi had few opportunities to join STEM activities before participating in the New York Academy of Sciences’ Junior Academy program. She worked on many challenges focusing on sustainability and aerospace. She worked with other high school students from across the globe as part of the winning team for the Human-Wildlife Challenge.

Sthuthi was concerned that no one was addressing the negative effects of solar panels on wild birds. Her team believes that infrared sensors and speakers producing beeping noises at 3 kHz can deter birds from landing on solar panels.

During her first year in the Junior Academy, she saw a posting on Launchpad, the Academy’s virtual collaboration platform, about getting involved in a Girls in Science panel at the third annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. She stayed in touch with one of the organizers, HRH Princess Dr. Nisreen El-Hashemite, Executive Director of the Royal Academy of Science International Trust which lead to an invitation from Dr. El-Hashemite to chair a panel at the 2019 event.

Finding What Drives Her

This is also how she became a Girls in Science Advocate for the Royal Academy of Science. Additionally, Sthuthi is one of the administrators on the Girls in Science 4 SDGs International platform, a program Dr. El-Hashemite made possible. For Sthuthi it’s all about priorities.

“I always believe that if I have enough time to watch Netflix, then I definitely have time to work on something I love,” she said. Sthuthi hopes to attend college either in the United States or Sweden.

Simple Tips for Teaching the Complexity of Science

Whoever said, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” never ventured into a lab at any American institute of higher education to speak to its graduate students.

Published April 25, 2019

By Marie Gentile, Robert Birchard, and Mandy Carr

They’re not only expected to be research superstars but also teach the next generation of STEM learners. Unfortunately, this second responsibility can be overlooked by their institutions and PIs, who often fail to provide them with teaching support. We recently spoke with Barbara Houtz, a former teacher and current K–20 STEM specialist who runs an online Scientists Teaching Science course, about the challenges facing first-time teachers.

Why should scientists strive to improve their teaching skills?

Our country is losing a large number of people that have the interest and ability to succeed in STEM fields, but they drop out of STEM majors because of poor teaching, and a feeling that they’re unwelcome. This is especially problematic for minority and first-generation students, who come to college excited about a STEM major. They have the energy and the interest, but they’re faced with professors who sometimes think it’s their job to fail half of the class.

They teach in very traditional manners with lectures and very little interactions. ‘Are there any questions?’ is about the only interaction they have with students. This preferentially harms underrepresented minorities and first-generation college students. They need a little bit more support, they need more interaction, they need to feel that they belong in the class instead of just, ‘Here’s the information, learn it or don’t.’

What’s the most common mistake that first-time teachers make?

It’s my experience that when a graduate student get their first teaching position, they harken back to their graduate education and not their undergraduate education. This causes them to have unreasonably high, sometimes irrational, expectations of their students. They forget that they’ll be facing a class with hundreds of undergrads who don’t know anything.

They feel that as long as the lecture is interesting, they’re teaching students. They say, ‘If I have an interesting lecture, then that’s good enough.’ But it isn’t enough. I tell people that lecturing is not teaching. It can be an element of teaching, but just lecturing is not teaching.

Should the lecture be de-emphasized?

The lecture itself is not based on any kind of research on teaching and learning. Quite the opposite. All the research on teaching shows that lectures are a terrible way to teach. However, we persist at it because it’s traditional, even though it harms those students in the demographics that we’re trying to get into STEM fields. I always tell scientists, ’Your whole life is devoted to finding evidence for different ideas. Finding evidence to solve questions, to answer questions, solve problems. Why don’t you use evidence when you’re teaching?’

How do improved teaching skills make better scientists?

It helps them become better communicators. Whenever they’re giving a presentation, delivering a seminar, or going to a conference talk, it can help them organize and deliver the takeaways they want to give their audience. Instead of throwing out information hoping it will stick, they can think about every speaking opportunity as a teaching opportunity.

What’s your advice for scientists looking to improve teaching?

Don’t feel pressured to, ‘Make it fun’ or, ’Make it interesting’ because, that’s an unnecessary bonus. Learning doesn’t have to be fun, and it doesn’t have to be interesting as long as you’re engaging the mind and you’re showing the student the usefulness of this information. Learning is hard work. You can’t say you’re always having fun.

Science is very complex, STEM ideas can be extremely complex. It’s not a simple thing to learn how everything works. I don’t aim to try to teach people how to make learning fun or interesting. I aim to engage students.

Learn more about the Academy’s Educational programming.

Mentoring Reignites Chemist’s Love of Teaching

Spreading the love of science and promoting the importance of curiosity are just two of the reasons Dessy Natalia is passionate about teaching high school chemistry.

Published March 27, 2019

By Marie Gentile, Robert Birchard, and Mandy Carr

Dessy Natalia has lived in a lot of places. Originally from Paradise Island in Bali, Dessy received her undergraduate degree in Indonesia, her masters degree in Belgium, and her chemistry PhD in Germany. After moving to the U.S. following her PhD studies, Dr. Natalia was looking for a way to get out of the lab and volunteer. That’s when she learned about the Academy’s Afterschool STEM Mentoring Program. Though she didn’t have formal teaching experience at that point, she had served as a research assistant during her studies and had also served as a mentor, loving every minute of it.

Serving as an afterschool STEM mentor for the Academy helped reignite Dr. Natalia’s love for teaching, so much so that she now teaches chemistry to high school students at Urban Action Academy in Brooklyn.

Why did you choose to teach chemistry?

I’ve loved chemistry since high school. Chemistry is a fascinating subject with a good balance between theory and application, as well as conceptual and math skills. Once I started conducting experiments, I loved it even more.

What was it like being a mentor in the Afterschool STEM Mentoring Program?

I was mentoring a class of fourth and fifth graders in forensic science at Public School 19 in New York City and it was an amazing experience. I was paired with another mentor, a researcher from Mount Sinai, and we had the students identifying patterns left from shoes at a faux crime scene, as well as looking at hair structures using microscopes. The kids loved the activities and were very engaged.

How did the program inspire you to become a teacher?

The program reminded me that I love to teach. Seeing those curious eyes and how eager they were to investigate while we did science activities inspired me. They make me believe that I can be a good teacher and they make me want to be a better teacher every day.

What do you love about teaching?

I love spreading the love of science, the importance of curiosity, and the scientific method. I love to see the awe in the students’ eyes when they learn something new.

Learn more about mentoring opportunities available through the Academy.

Promoting International Collaboration and Mentorship

A man poses with a bronze bust of Charles Darwin.

Participants in The New York Academy of Sciences’ Interstellar Initiative discuss their work in the program, the power of effective mentors, and the need for cross-discipline collaboration.

Published February 28, 2019

By Marie Gentile, Mandy Carr, and Richard Birchard

Mentors take part in the Academy tradition of posing next to the bronze bust of Charles Darwin.

A radiation oncologist, an immunologist, and a mechanical engineer walk into a room to consult with a brain tumor specialist. This may sound like the inauspicious start to a bad joke, but at the Interstellar Initiative—a mentoring workshop series presented by the Academy and The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development—the payoff is a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer.

We recently sat down with a team of Interstellar participants to discuss how the Initiative’s emphasis on international collaboration and mentorship is helping to pave the way for innovative research. We caught up with them just as they were finalizing a grant proposal, developed over the course of two workshops with the guidance of their team mentor Noriyuki Kasahara, PhD.

What is your grant proposal’s focus?

Michael Pacold, MD, PhD, New York University: We’re studying pancreatic cancer—a nasty cancer with a five-year survival rate less than five percent. We’re interested in defining metabolic features of the pancreatic cancer environment that render these tumors insensitive to multiple therapies, including immune therapy. During preliminary experiments, we found that our initial proposal wouldn’t have worked.

From left to right Edmond Young, Taisuke Kondo, and Michael Pacold work on their grant presentation.

Taisuke Kondo, PhD, Keio University: The therapy we were proposing was potentially very dangerous because of adverse effects for normal lung tissues.

MP: With this knowledge, we’re now focused on what metabolites are in the microenvironment of pancreatic cancer.

Edmond Young, PhD, University of Toronto: This new approach makes for a more focused grant. We’re answering a basic question that could have major impact across the board in basic science. This Initiative has been very helpful. The first workshop was a meet and greet, shaking hands and getting to know one another. Six months later we have met again to parse out further details and receive mentored feedback.

Why should senior scientists mentor their younger colleagues?

Noriyuki Kasahara, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco: There’s an earnest desire to ensure young, promising junior faculty do not make the same mistakes that we made, and that they benefit from our experiences. Also an experienced scientist can explain how to think about grant proposals in the way that critical reviewers think about them.

Why is mentorship for early career investigators important?

EY: Because it’s easy to make mistakes (as an early career investigator). Mistakes happen often, and sometimes they take a long time to fix. Having a mentor helps to avoid traps. PhD students have been trained to do good bench science, and they know how to design an experiment, but writing a grant is a new game.

MP: In science and medicine, the successful generally function at a level above where they actually are. Good graduate students act like postdocs, good postdocs act like primary investigators. Good junior faculty act like senior faculty and so forth. Mentors help you get there, if only by imitation.

Why is international collaboration in the sciences important?

Noriyuki Kasahara consults with the team on their proposal.

EY: When you’re doing science at a university surrounded by familiar people, you get siloed. Scientists need to step outside of their local environment once in a while. Hearing other people’s thoughts, getting their input, and having a global eye towards problems is extremely helpful.

MP: The beauty of science is that it should be true and reproducible. You should be able to do the same experiment in New York as you can in Tokyo, as you can in Toronto.

NK: I think that’s one of the wonderful aspects of science. Also, it’s a universal kind of language. Physical laws are universal and it doesn’t matter what your nation of origin is, or your ethnicity. They apply equally to everybody.

TK: This program is a great opportunity for young investigators to participate in international collaborations.

What advice do you have for young researchers?

MP: In science you have to be comfortable with the realization that you will be wrong. Often. Don’t be afraid of being wrong, look at what the data is telling you and adjust accordingly.

EY: Question everything, because a skeptical scientist is always a good scientist.

TK: Enjoy both success and failure. Positive and negative data are both useful.

NY: Being in science can be very immersive, very consuming. You think about your hypotheses and your experiments all the time. But don’t always let it consume you. Live your life and see your family.

How Today’s Inspiration Can Impact Tomorrow’s Cures

A young student smiles and poses with her mentor.

Ellie Zillfleisch looks forward to the day where she might help others suffering from Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis.

Published October 22, 2018

By Marie Gentile, Mandy Carr, and Richard Birchard

A hospital bed might not be where you’d expect to find a career revelation, but that’s where Ellie Zillfleisch, 14, discovered her love for STEM. She grew up in Julatten, a small, rural town in Queensland, Australia, home to just 1,000 people. At 11, doctors diagnosed her with Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO), a disease that develops bone lesions. CRMO affects 1 out of every 1,000,000 people.

“My bones look like honeycombs, which is kind of cool (even though it’s painful),” says Ellie.

There is no standard treatment for CRMO. She started having symptoms when she was eight, and doctors routinely misdiagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and osteomyelitis. Going to hospitals in big cities intimidated Ellie, who was used to her small town life.

A First Foray into Medicine

After spending a month in a hospital in Brisbane, she started having acute anxiety attacks. Her fear of needles grew when she thought her IVs would fall out. To prove they’d stay in place, doctors let her take off the tape that held the tubes in place. Ellie thinks of this as her first foray into medicine.

To overcome CRMO, Ellie found inspiration from the superhero, Green Arrow, whose superpower involves using trick arrows to stop bad things from happening and who often refers to this Russian proverb: “the shark that doesn’t swim drowns.”

“If I did not beat this disease, it would swallow me,” she told us. “I often thank those doctors in the hospital all those years ago, as now I am hoping to pursue medicine as a career and say, ‘I shattered this disease.’”

Ellie Zillfleisch met her mentor, Courtney Veilleux, at the GSA Summit.

Chasing a Dream

Despite her chronic disease and small-town roots, she looks for every opportunity to get closer to her dream. Ellie heard about The New York Academy of Sciences’ 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures program from a friend who took part. When she realized a STEM mentor could give her the edge in college and her future career, she applied immediately.

Ellie felt overwhelmed when she started 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures. She wasn’t sure if she would have enough time to participate while staying on track with school and other extracurricular activities. Her mentor reassured her she was capable of completing all her tasks and taught her to balance her busy schedule. Ellie believes she improved her work-life balance by setting manageable goals for each day.

One of the opportunities 1000 Girls, 1000 Futures provided her was attending the Global STEM Alliance Summit in New York City. She received an all-expense paid trip to New York because she was picked as a “Mentee of the Month.” Mentors nominate students for this award for being active and exemplary participants.

Interacting with a global community of students has shown Ellie a world outside her own in Julatten. She even wants to attend college in the United States because she believes there are more opportunities for women in STEM there.

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