The North Shore School District is proud to announce that Anne Marchildon, a senior at North Shore High School, was invited to the semi-finalist stage of the LI Region Junior Science Humanities Symposium (JSHS) competition at York College in February 2016. Of the hundreds of research papers submitted, Anne’s was among 37 biological semi-finalists in New York City and Long Island. Her research teacher, Dr. Molly Mordechai, said, “We were excited to recently learn that Anne came in third place for her research presentation titled,Inhibition of the Protein Kinase MRK Sensitizes of Glioma Stem Cells to Radiation.” Anne said, “After taking eighth grade biology, I became more interested in science. Additionally, my whole family is engaged in science - my one brother is an astrophysicist and my other one is a mechanical engineer.” She added, “In July 2014, I worked at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in a laboratory in Manhasset assisting on guided experiments. In 2015, as a junior in high school, my mentor Dr. Ruggieri encouraged me to work on my own individualized research to sensitize a subpopulation of cancer stem cells in the brain to radiation therapy. Ultimately, the goal of my research is to reduce the amount of radiation administered to brain cancer patients by making the cancer cells more vulnerable to radiation and other cancer treatments.” In addition to the JSHS competition, Anne submitted her science research paper to the Intel Science Talent Search, the Long Island Science Engineering Fair (where she presented a poster summarizing her research), and the N.Y. State Science and Engineering Fair (NYSSEF). She will also be presenting in April 2016 at the Long Island Science Congress. Anne is waiting to hear back whether she will be a finalist in the national JSHS competition. Anne Marchildon will be pursuing her passion of science next fall at Cornell University as a freshman in the College of Agriculture & Life Science. She concluded by saying, “Being engaged in this whole process makes me realize the level of impact that I am leaving on society. I feel so innovative and believe that one day soon the results of my study can really change the lives of cancer patients in the future. By lowering their doses of radiation, it will give patients a better quality of life, a longer life span, and more time to enjoy with their friends and loved ones.” Congratulations to Anne Marchildon and all those who have assisted her. We wish her the best of luck now and in the future as she continues to make a difference in the world by pursuing her passion of science. Article and photo by Shelly Newman Information for this article was provided by Anne Marchildon