Schools

High School Students Awarded For Breast Cancer Research

Commack native Kayla Neville and Jeong Yun (John) Yang recevied praise for their work at Stony Brook Univeristy.

A student was awarded for her breast cancer research project that was completed at Stony Brook University.

Junior Kayla Neville, along with Jeong Yun (John) Yang, a senior from William A. Shine Great Neck South High, recently attended the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program’s Extended Environmental Exposures Annual Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kayla and John received the award for Best Basic Research Poster, marking the first time the award has ever been given to high school students.

The students presented their research findings from investigations they conducted over two months in the summer at a laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University. They presented a poster entitled "Towards Graphene-Based Imaging and Drug-Delivery Agents for Breast Cancer: Cytotoxicity of Graphene Oxide Nanoribbons in Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines."

The students’ worked at Stony Brook University as part of a program called "Students and Scientists High School Internship Program," sponsored by the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition and the Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition. The internship aims to give students the opportunity to engage in unique and authentic science research. Their research focused on the study of cytotoxicity of graphene oxide nanoribbons on human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and SkBr.

According to Kayla, she and John found that it was important to do toxicity studies on the effect of nanoparticles on cells before developing strategies for breast cancer treatment. They sought to lower the likelihood of negative side effects when these nanoparticles are studied further for potential use in molecular imaging of breast cancer tumors or for targeted drug-delivery agents. These procedures are used to improve the accuracy and efficiency of breast cancer treatment.

"Not only did Kayla and John perform important research, but truly understood the science and were able to articulate in a sophisticated, intelligible direction," said Lisa Kratter, Program Coordinator for the Students and Scientists Environmental Research Scholarship Program.

"Top-tiered representatives from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, as well as many world- renowned Principal Investigators were absolutely blown away by their presentation and poster."

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