
2023 Summer Research Program
This is a 9-week program where the student will conduct research and write a scientific journal guided by Dr. Rajagopal Appavu; imminent researcher, Assistant Professor, Vaccine Developer, Senior Data Scientist/Analyst, Toxicologist, and Chemist.
Students will be guided in writing a 4000+ word research paper and submitting them to journals.
Note: Students will get to create a Flexible Schedule (working with Dr.Rajagopal Appavu)
Dates: June - August (Fluid schedule)
Join the Program >>Benefits of Research Program

ACTIVITY LIST
Research can be included in the extracurricular activity list, resume, and any awards received as a result of Research. Scientific Journal publishing is one of the key ingredients when it comes to applying for Pre-med colleges.

COLLEGE LIKE TO SEE RESEARCH
College admissions officers recognize the value of high school research projects and feel that the very act of completing such extensive projects speaks to a student’s passion, perseverance, intellectual capacities, and ability to handle challenges.

SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS
By engaging in performing research, high school students develop critical thinking, logical reasoning, problem-solving, deep learning, and analytical skills. Variety of supplemental essays would allow you to discuss your research or why a particular college is a good fit for you.
Research Success
Published Papers by past research students!

Dopamine Agonists and their Optimality in Treating Parkinson's Disease Compared to Other Treatments
By: Samarth Keerthivasan
In this paper, comparisons were conducted between the two largest categories of PD therapy to derive a conclusion. The findings indicate some rather surprising results, and prove that dopamine agonists might not be as useful in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease as one might assume.

Mutations In Influenza Viruses and Prevention Against These Viruses
By: Rohit Rao
This paper will research the mechanisms of such processes that allow these viruses to stay “alive” (because they technically are not a living thing) and prevent themselves from being eradicated by today’s medical technology. We also look into common and new preventions/ treatments that is/ can be used to eventually eradicate the flu.

Dopamine Agonists and their Optimality in Treating Parkinson's Disease Compared to Other Treatments
By: Samarth Keerthivasan
In this paper, comparisons were conducted between the two largest categories of PD therapy to derive a conclusion. The findings indicate some rather surprising results, and prove that dopamine agonists might not be as useful in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease as one might assume.

Bioartificial Liver Manufacturing Methodologies in Comparison to Hepatogenesis
By: Aanya Roy
End-stage organ failure is a major global issue, with the liver being the second-highest transplanted organ due to lifestyle choices or other conditions. In the field of biomedical engineering, artificial organ manufacturing has been a possible alternative to organ transplants by aiming to achieve less immune rejection, more efficient production, and higher accessibility

Examining Machine Learning Models That Predict sgRNA Cleavage Efficiencies
By: Krish Kawle
Scientists discovered a revolutionary way to use this method for gene editing. Yet, the challenge is that the CRISPR-Cas9 system is lenient with the matching precision of the guide RNA to the target sequence As a result, the CRISPR-cas9 system may also cleave certain healthy sequences that are almost identical to the target sequence. This paper aims to find the best model that uses machine learning to predict an optimal sgRNA design.

Onchocerciasis Transmission in Africa and How It Can Be Resolved: Obstacles and Solutions to the Spread of Onchocerciasis Transmission in Africa
By: Saketh Nallagatla
Strong elements of this research paper include treatments such as MR-Guided focused Ultrasound, Gene Therapy, Park-in-Shape, and the rise of a PD Vaccine. This research paper's secondary goal is to inform those looking to avoid PD or who already have PD and wish to avoid the symptoms on how to avoid the symptoms of the disease. This Dopamine and PD study aims to explain what dopamine is, how it works, how it affects the body, and the effects of unhealthy levels of dopamine.

Dopamine and the Causes, Prevention, and Advanced Treatments of Parkinson’s Disease
By: Jeremy Nashid
Strong elements of this research paper include treatments such as MR-Guided focused Ultrasound, Gene Therapy, Park-in-Shape, and the rise of a PD Vaccine. This research paper's secondary goal is to inform those looking to avoid PD or who already have PD and wish to avoid the symptoms on how to avoid the symptoms of the disease. This Dopamine and PD study aims to explain what dopamine is, how it works, how it affects the body, and the effects of unhealthy levels of dopamine.

CRISPR in Cancer Treatment
By: Shivani Pradeep
In order to avoid the side effects, scientists have developed a tool which allows them to efficiently target cancer cells themselves in order to stop them before the cancer progresses to a level in which medical professionals are no longer able to help. This tool is called CRISPR, and it holds the key to the future of cancer treatment due to the efficiency and convenience which it offers.

Is Gene Therapy a Band-aid or a Cure?
By: Sanjitha Sadhneni
The goal of innovation in treating diseases is to provide a long-lasting solution. For rare diseases such as sickle cell disease (SCD) and hemophilia, this can mean reducing the number of complications or even increasing life expectancy. One of the innovations that is having increasing attention is gene therapy. Gene therapy entails substituting flawed genes with normal ones by utilizing vectors derived from the outer shells of viruses, retaining the inherent properties of being able to target and enter specific cells.

Alternative Medicine for Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents - an exploratory study
By: Vaishnnavi Ashokraja
There is minimal research on alternative medical fields; therefore this research paper is meant to bring awareness and help ease symptoms of depression using alternative/ayurvedic medicine. This research paper supports the hypothesis that alternative medicine works better than man-made antidepressants in reversing damage to neutrons and restoring mood and hormone levels.

Characteristics of Psychotic Depression in Juveniles and Analyzing 4 Antipsychotics
By: Deepak Vaidyula
This research paper attempts to answer how psychotic depression differs in children and adults and focuses on the properties of the following four antipsychotics: Mellaril, Clozaril, Zyprexa, and Abilify to analyze which antipsychotic was most effective. This research paper analyzed differences in how children and adults react to psychotic depression by analyzing a recent study.

Probability of life on Mars utilizing biosignatures
By: Divya Krishna
Biosignatures are key pieces of evidence of life on other planets, in this research paper we will be focusing specifically on Mars. This paper compiles research from other papers and highlights probabilities and improbabilities of life from data on Mars and terrestrial analogs on Earth. Hydrated areas likely to have liquid water exhibit a correlation with life as liquid water is commonly thought to be the “key” to an organism's survival.

Discussion of melittin in cardiovascular treatments
By: Gaurav Ramasani
In this research paper, we will go over details about melittin peptide, a cationic peptide that was derived from bee venom and is now being used in medicine to cure diseases. We will go over how it was derived, some of its uses in medicine, how it is helping in cardiology, and how it could affect the future of medicine.

The Effect on the Growth of Lettuce Plants Using Various Recyclable Non-Soil Substrates
By: Zain Rehman
All the household recyclable substrates with exception of cushion filling were found to grow plants better than soil. Findings suggest that while rockwool or other commercially available products are used as substrates for hydroponics, recyclable household substrates can be just as effective and better than soil, while reducing cost.

Applying Machine Learning Techniques to Mitigate Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic
By: Sidarth Krishna
The results highlighted that for COVID-19 cases the most influential factor was Population Density. For deaths, the most significant factors were poverty rates in communities as well as education level. From this analysis and results, in order to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the future it is of utmost importance to address the needs of underprivileged communities by providing access to low cost and high quality medical resources for all.

Exploring the connections between alcohol and chronic traumatic encephalopathy
By: Arnav Srivastava
The specific causes of CTE and still not completely known, and this paper intends to answer that with at least one cause: alcohol. Alcohol has been a favorite among many players and its presence is undeniable in the sporting community. Its effects on the liver, kidney, and other organs are clear already, and perhaps after this research and more, its effects on the brain can become clearer as well. A connection between alcohol and CTE can be seen here in this research and this link can be built upon in efforts to create a treatment for the horrible disease, eventually hoping to render this issue nonexistent.

Shoulder Dysfunction in High School Tennis Players - an exploratory study
By: Sandheep Ranganathan
The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of scapular dyskinesis and GIRD at the high school level and identify some of the factors that makes a high school tennis player more susceptible to developing shoulder dysfunction. A survey related to sports-related shoulder dysfunction was developed in collaboration with physical therapists and was completed by twenty-seven high school level tennis players.

Can Stress Cause Cancer?
By: Trisha Nataraj
This paper uses research done on stress’ affect on the body and the health conditions people are more prone to develop if they are stressed, to identify if stress can cause someone to develop cancer. Along with this, the paper also uses research to describe the different effects the two different forms of stress have on the body and how chronic or long-term stress affects the body systems at a larger scale in comparison to acute or short-term stress.

Optimization of Pediatric Cancer Diagnosis with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs)
By: Simran Saluja
In the past few years, artificial intelligence technology has been advancing and scientists have begun to research whether deep learning algorithms like convolutional neural networks can be used to help detect signs of and diagnose cancer. Specifically, a growing research field refers to using deep learning and CNN models to detect pediatric cancer, one of the hardest cancers to detect based on symptoms. In this paper, it will be discussed whether deep learning algorithms are effective in use for the detection or diagnosis of pediatric cancers.

Molecular Inhibition of Phagocytosis: Systematic Review of Immune Response
By: Sebastian Leung
There are many viral variants that bind to sialic acid rather than cleave it on a human macrophage, which inhibits a macrophage’s phagocytosis; for example, the D151G mutant of the influenza virus. Sialic acid must be cleaved in order to initiate phagocytosis, so viral variants that cleave sialic acid can help hasten the cleansing process of the immune system. The process of researching began with the understanding of how sialic acid synthesis occurs and how it inhibits phagocytosis

Mechanisms of Metastasis: Analysis on Abdominal Organs and the Effect of Treatment Options
By: Sinchana Keshav
Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer related deaths and commonly associated with Stage IV cancer. This paper will answer the question of: “How do the different circumstances of metastatic origin, growth, and spread affect the function of abdominal organs and life expectancy in cancer patients as well as how varied treatment options affect tumor spread?” in the style of an empirical review.

An Evaluation of the Safety and Effectiveness of Erleada
By: Vasudha Ravivarma
Prostate cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide, however it remains a challenge for both patients and doctors alike to identify the proper treatment. Patients are hesitant to fully commit to medications and treatments due to the uncertainty surrounding the safety and effectiveness of products. Erleada®, or Apalutamide, is a newer drug that has shown promising results.

Heat Maps of Alzheimer’s Diagnosis and its Factors Across the United States
By: Vimal Roshan Lokesh
Alzheimer’s disease is an ailment that is tightening its grip on global health and more specifically, elderly well being. However, it can be observed that the diagnosis rate varies greatly from one state to another. This paper aims to isolate factors from each state as either advantages or disadvantages toward the Alzheimer’s diagnosis rate, further enhance our preventative measures of Alzheimer’s, and better our understanding of the disease itself.

Early Testing of Alzheimer's using Biomarkers
By: Kiranpreet Utal
This paper covers the biomarkers that can be used to test for and diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease. This is important due to the large number of people globally who are suffering from this disease. Two types of biomarker origins were explored here: blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Currently, the standard for testing Alzheimer’s biomarkers is through the use of cerebrospinal fluid collection. These are the biomarkers that have been thoroughly tested and accepted as accurate and reliable, such as Aβ (1-42) and Tau-related proteins

Connecting Hearing Loss: Causes, Treatments, and Prevention
By: Bhavana Challa
Everyone has five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. Each of these plays a vital role in one's life. It was found that one connection between all of these causes is that they are a result of some sort of physical damage or injury to the ear. But this injury’s location and specifications are different in each case yet the result is also hearing loss. Furthermore, this paper offers solutions and prevention for some of the different cases of hearing loss that can be encountered; thereby preparing persons to avoid this condition.

The Causes and Effects of Algorithmic Decision Making
By: Simran Saluja
Algorithms are able to help people do simple pattern-based tasks in day-to-day life but they also have implications on our society. Algorithms often make mistakes due to the human error in data they analyze. There are many different sources of algorithmic error in decision making, but the most significant cause by far is error in the data which algorithms are trained from. These errors affect advertisements, jobs, and also technological products. It is hard to get rid of these biases as many times it leads to underrepresentation, another cause of algorithmic error. The way an algorithm is trained has a large impact on the future decisions it makes.
2023 Summer Research Program
This is a 9-week program where the student will conduct research and write a scientific journal guided by Dr. Rajagopal Appavu; imminent researcher, Assistant Professor, Vaccine Developer, Senior Data Scientist/Analyst, Toxicologist, and Chemist.
Students will be guided in writing a 4000+ word research paper and submitting them to journals.