Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Competes at MIT
| Date: November 2002 |
Cambridge, Mass. - Charles Kircher of Biddeford, Maine, has been selected among 11 high school students from New England for the regional finals of the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology, being held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Nov. 8-9, 2002.
In his quest to reach the national finals, Charles will present his work in bioinformatics - a field combining biology with information technology - before a panel of judges through a poster presentation, an oral presentation and a question-and-answer session.
His project was developed earlier this year when he took part in The Jackson Laboratory's annual 10-week Summer Student Program. Under the guidance of mentors Debra Krupke and Dr. Janan Eppig, Charles developed a specialized oncogene database to provide easy access to relevant research information on these genes that play a normal role in cell growth yet may contribute to the growth of a tumor when altered. His model may be used as a template to create other specialized databases at The Jackson Laboratory that will serve as important research tools to the worldwide biomedical research community.
Judging will be based on a number of factors including creativity, experimental work and scientific importance. Regional finalists receive $1,000, and regional winners will receive $3,000. The national finals will be held in Washington Dec. 6-9, 2002, with the first prize a $100,000 scholarship. Winners will be announced in USA Today on Friday, Dec. 13, 2002. For information on The Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program, please visit the Summer Student portion of the Jackson Laboratory website.
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