This summer, UT Health San Antonio was pleased to welcome eight NISD high school students to participate in the Northside ISD Summer Research Mentorship Program. Last year’s program – to be the 30th annual program – was cancelled due to the pandemic. However, the lifting of restrictions this summer allowed eight previously selected students to participate and do research on campus this summer.

Each student was assigned a mentor from the faculty at UT Health San Antonio. The students met once a week as a class with Northside ISD teacher Michael Foret to discuss the research process and were expected to keep a lab journal, write research abstracts, and present their research to the class at the end of the summer. And on August 5th as the culmination of their program, seven students presented their research projects on campus and via livestream to family and friends.

Zeynep Korkmaz, a student at Health Careers High School worked in Dr. David Libich’s lab this summer. She explained that she was interested in the Northside ISD Summer Research Mentorship Program because she wanted to gain exposure to scientific research. Her physics teacher recommended her to the program.

She explained that one new skill that she gained over this summer was learning to communicate in a professional environment.

“From reading research papers and watching other lab members sharing their projects and advice, to communicating with my PI and mentor about my own project, I learned a lot,” she said.

She explained that her best memory from this summer in the lab was watching scientists perform different techniques.

“For example, we learn about gel electrophoresis in high school, but getting to be in the lab and actually watch it get performed and understanding the applications was very fun,” she said.

Her project this summer was developing a program that could simulate recently developed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy techniques, such as DEST and CEST, to be used as an educational tool by trainees learning to use them. Her topic was titled “Developing an Educational Tool For Simulating Complex NMR Experiments.”

“NMR is more of a toolbox than a single tool,” she explained. “Using recent NMR techniques, we can use smaller species to get info about larger species.”

Her project looked at developing a learning tool by stimulating the experiment before running them. It is able to manipulate different parameters and produce plots.

“I built a user interface to make these more accessible to trainees and become a more useful tool,” she said.

She is going to UT Austin this fall and plans to continue research in the field of biomedical engineering.

Krupa Amerineni, a student at the Health Careers High School worked at the Barshop Institute with Dr. Mengwei Zang on a project titled “Dysregulation of Nutrient Sensing Promotes Liver Fibrosis Progression in Mouse Models of Cholestasis and Age-related NASH.”

She explained that she was interested in the program because she wanted to gain research experience and to explore research opportunities at UT Health San Antonio.

“I think that the summer research program is a great opportunity for high school students to spend time in the research environment and gain exposure to the lab setting at a very young age,” she said.

Her research project was about how specific nutrient sensors can play a role in either increasing or decreasing liver fibrosis resulting in either increased or decreased obesity and aging.

Her main question was to determine the effect of hepalocyte LKb1 downregulation on the development of liver damage and fibrosis in mice. In the present study, the Zang lab further seeks to investigate a novel function of LKB1 on bile duct ligation-induced liver fibrosis.

One of the aims of her project was to determine whether dysregulation of FGF21 mediates liber fibrosis progression in a mouse model of age-related NASH. In the experiment, she performed H&E staining of liver sections in four groups of mice. The results showed that lipid accumulation was evident in the Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 KD mice fed a high fat high sucrose diet compared to wildtype mice.

“Aging leads to NASH—Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis,” she said.

She explained that she would definitely recommend the summer research program as it helped her achieve her goals and expand her knowledge in the medical field.

“My best memory from this summer in the lab would be when I spent time in the mouse room getting hands on exposure to animal studies,” she said.

Krupa’s future plans are to go to medical school.

Abril Calderon, a student from the Health Career High School will be going to UT Austin in the fall. This summer, she worked with Dr. Erzsebet K Kokovay ‘s lab. Specifically, she looked at if “Interleukin-6 (IL-6) contributes to reduced proliferation of neural stem cells.”

She decided to apply for this program in her junior year of high school with hopes to gain insight into the real world of medical research.

“I believed this internship would allow me to meet professionals that I could essentially have as role models and would confirm my interest in pursuing science as a career,” she said.

This summer, she worked in the Kokovay Lab, which focuses on the study of regulating the process of neurogenesis to advance therapeutic measures to prevent neurodegenerative conditions that come with brain injuries and aging. For her project, she focused on the manipulation of cytokine levels in neural stem cells and their effect on proliferation. She initiated with the addition of Interleukin-1 beta then continued with the addition of Interleukin-6.

“Neurogenesis is vital for learning and memory,” she said.

She explained that her overarching goal was to successfully complete her research project with profound comprehension of both the lab techniques she utilized and the molecular reasoning behind her project. Given their pro-inflammatory nature, she expected the increase in cytokine levels to obstruct neurogenesis and to reduce the amount of proliferating cells. However, the addition of Interleukin-1 beta did not lead to a significant decrease in actively proliferating neural stem cells, whereas Interleukin-6 did.

Further she explained that an enriched environment will lead to increased neurogenesis and the blocking of neurogenesis.

In her project, she compared a two-month-old mouse and an 18-month-old mouse to look at how aging depletes proliferation of neurogenesis.

Since this was her first time participating in a research internship, she learned about multiple techniques that she was not exposed to in high school.

“These ranged from serological and volumetric pipetting to cell culture, immunocytochemistry, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR),” she said.

She explained that she “without a doubt, would recommend this program to all students that are determined and willing to invest their summertime learning and taking in academic responsibilities. It is a unique opportunity that provides the interns with a professional environment, an insight into graduate school for biomedical sciences, and a group of think-alike peers that will support and advise the student even after finishing the internship.”

April is currently a student at the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin where she is pursuing a bachelor of science degree in Neuroscience with aspirations of achieving a medical degree in the future.

“I hope to gain exposure to clinical research throughout my undergraduate studies to get further insight into the different aspects of medicine and science,” she said.