Several senior science research students from Sachem High School North were busy this summer participating in prestigious research programs. Dreshta Boghra and Marco Villatoro worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the High School Summer Research Program and Avi Talsania was accepted into the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces at Stony Brook University.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Febin Kurian and Piyush Joshi, Dreshta investigated the use of electrical strain sensors and Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors. She studied the relationship between linear strain and applied force, and the strain induced when cooled to cryogenic temperatures. The research seeks to increase the performance of superconducting magnets and related technologies.
Marco worked with his mentor, David Chan, in the collider accelerator department, formulating an engineering design for an upgrade to the Brookhaven LINAC Isotope Producer (BLIP), a high-energy particle accelerator. The upgrade involved creating new piping, as well as cooling and heat rejection systems, to increase beam intensity, which increases the production of isotopes used for medical imaging scans.
At Stony Brook University, Avi Talsania conducted research under the guidance of mentors Adam Hansen and Dr. Miriam Rafailovich on skin clotting, which focused on examining the proliferation of fibroblasts and human dermal cells, with a particular emphasis on how aging and collagen availability affected them. Avi collaborated with Dr. Steven Fliesler at SUNY Buffalo to investigate the impact of AY9944, a DHCR7 (cholesterol) inhibitor on these cells. Additionally, Avi assessed the effectiveness and toxicity of the peptide P12 as an anti-thrombotic agent in fibrinogen fibers. Avi will continue his endeavors in computational neurology research at the Haskins Laboratories of Yale University.
Date Added: 9/19/2023