Cranbrook Schools Senior Honored by Siemens
Cranbrook Schools senior Naveen K. Karthik has been honored with the semifinalist award in the 2014 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. As part of this competition, Naveen submitted his medical research work that he completed this summer at Wayne State School of Medicine.
He was one of only 14 students in the state of Michigan to receive the honor.
The Siemens Foundation established the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology in 1999. The Competition is the nation’s premiere science research competition for high school students and seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects. It fosters intensive research that improves students' understanding of the value of scientific study and informs their consideration of future careers in these disciplines.
Says Naveen, “I had the opportunity to work in the Wayne State School of Medicine lab under the mentorship of Dr. Bhanu Jena, who is a pioneer of modern cell biology. This was a very transformative experience, because seeing scientists performing the research that will form the knowledge of future is enthralling. I was exposed to so many new biological techniques and machinery that my whole perception of science has widened tremendously.”
His research involved trying to improve the understanding the molecular basis of pancreatitis by analyzing the morphology of pancreatic cells before and after pancreatitis.
“Pancreatitis is a very detrimental disease, causing many deaths in its acute form. It also currently does not have any known cures. The disease causes cells to secrete proteolytic and other enzymes that can degrade the cell, leading to complications in the surrounding structures. Through my research work this summer, I analyzed the effects of pancreatitis on the morphology of secretory vesicles to understand the physiological responses that pancreatic cells undergo during this state of stress. I also included mitochondria in my studies as these organelles within the cell have been known to undertake morphological changes during pancreatitis.
I determined that in model rat cells, two hours after pancreatitis, this harmful secretion of enzymes actually ceases. This gives an indication that some mechanism is actually blocking secretion at this time interval. My current work in the lab is to actually test proteins in the cell to determine which of these proteins might be involved in this block of secretion. This could potentially open pathways into fabricating novel treatments to cure pancreatitis during its onset,” he says.
Naveen hopes to one day become a physician.
The Siemens Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing scholarships and increasing access to higher education for talented mathematics, science, engineering, and technology students in the United States.
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He was one of only 14 students in the state of Michigan to receive the honor.
The Siemens Foundation established the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology in 1999. The Competition is the nation’s premiere science research competition for high school students and seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects. It fosters intensive research that improves students' understanding of the value of scientific study and informs their consideration of future careers in these disciplines.
Says Naveen, “I had the opportunity to work in the Wayne State School of Medicine lab under the mentorship of Dr. Bhanu Jena, who is a pioneer of modern cell biology. This was a very transformative experience, because seeing scientists performing the research that will form the knowledge of future is enthralling. I was exposed to so many new biological techniques and machinery that my whole perception of science has widened tremendously.”
His research involved trying to improve the understanding the molecular basis of pancreatitis by analyzing the morphology of pancreatic cells before and after pancreatitis.
“Pancreatitis is a very detrimental disease, causing many deaths in its acute form. It also currently does not have any known cures. The disease causes cells to secrete proteolytic and other enzymes that can degrade the cell, leading to complications in the surrounding structures. Through my research work this summer, I analyzed the effects of pancreatitis on the morphology of secretory vesicles to understand the physiological responses that pancreatic cells undergo during this state of stress. I also included mitochondria in my studies as these organelles within the cell have been known to undertake morphological changes during pancreatitis.
I determined that in model rat cells, two hours after pancreatitis, this harmful secretion of enzymes actually ceases. This gives an indication that some mechanism is actually blocking secretion at this time interval. My current work in the lab is to actually test proteins in the cell to determine which of these proteins might be involved in this block of secretion. This could potentially open pathways into fabricating novel treatments to cure pancreatitis during its onset,” he says.
Naveen hopes to one day become a physician.
The Siemens Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing scholarships and increasing access to higher education for talented mathematics, science, engineering, and technology students in the United States.
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