The 26th Annual High School Research Poster Session

Saturday, February 3, 2024

This annual poster competition for high school students, sponsored jointly by the American Chemical Society and St. Joseph’s University, took place on Feb. 3, 2024, at SJNY Brooklyn Campus. The event featured 128 poster presentations and welcomed 165 participants from six local high schools, showcasing a high standard of research. Every student received a certificate of participation. Nineteen projects earned honorable mentions and additional certificates. Four projects were recognized as winners, receiving supplementary certificates and Amazon gift cards as accolades for their contributions. 

WINNERS

First Place

1. Yara Aguilar- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Tuning the Piezoelectric Properties of Electrospun Gelatin Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration Purposes
2. Joeliz Correa- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Bioremediation of the NJ wetlands using live organisms

Second Place

1. Ravneet Ahluwalia & Saptarshi Banik- Francis Lewis High School
   The Life Span Effects of Rhodiola rosea Applied to Vanessa cardui Butterflies at 1 Week from Birth at Different Concentrations
2. Carolyn Eloy- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Removal of Heavy Metals from Water using Biomimicry

Honorable Mention

1. Jade Castillo- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Teen Risk-Taking Behavior: Inhalant Usage Comparison to Tobacco Cartridges
2. Fiona Cen- Francis Lewis High School
   Effects of Doxylamine Succinate on the Rate of Head Regeneration in Dugesia tigrina
3. Julio Cervantes- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Fabrication and Analysis of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) with Solution-process Ruthenium Complex and PEDOT:PSS Thin Films
4. Darren Chen & Alejandro Velazquez- Brooklyn Technical High School & Midwood High School
   Investigation of physical properties of a novel zinc chloride-butyramide deep eutectic solvent
5. Maggie Chen- Francis Lewis High School
   The Effect of Black Pepper Extract on Alzheimer’s Disease Related Behavior in C. elegans
6. Valerie Duran- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Imposter Syndrome Among First-Generation Professionals
7. Rikza Fatima, Devin Morales, & Joanne Zhu- Midwood High School
   Researching the Mechanisms of Actions of 5-Fluorouracil in wild-type and ThyA Escherichia coli
8. Merisha Fernando- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Evaluating a Non-invasive Treatment To Prevent Neuronal Death After a Traumatic Brain Injury
9. Aidan Fields- Jose Marti STEM Academy
   Developing an Algorithm That Identifies Stellar Objects Through Light Curve Analysis
10. Andy Gonzalez- Jose Marti STEM Academy
    Engineering Metal Oxides for Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC)
11. Tian Jin, Ashley Quito Angamarca, & Nathalie Zhang- Francis Lewis High School
    The Effects of Nitrogen Preference of Nitrate (NO3-) Compared to Ammonium (NH4+) on the Growth of Phyllanthus fluitans
12. Abigail Lim & Winni Zheng- Francis Lewis High School
    The effect of Green Tea extract on wound inflicted diabetic Caenorhabditis elegans
13. Lehansa Marambage- Jose Marti STEM Academy
    Quantitative Characterization of Single Particle Combustion using X-ray Phase Contrast Imaging and Machine Learning
14. Claudio Martinez- Jose Marti STEM Academy
    Autonomous Search and Rescue Robot
15. Mili Raghavan- High Tech High School
    Investigating Emotions Inspired by World Music in Hearing Impaired
16. Yanhe Rong & Joey Zhu- Midwood High School
    The Effects of Omega 3 Fatty Acids on Suppressing ADHD Symptoms
17. Jose Rubio- Jose Marti STEM Academy
    Robotic IoT Testbed
18. Vigneshwari Sivakumar- Francis Lewis High School
    Calibration in Neighborhood-Level Pollution Trends Using Low-Cost PM2.5 Sensors in Kolkata, India
19. Audrey Wood- Saint Saviour High School
    The Effect of Liquid Smoke on Pascopyrum

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

“Looking for Earthworms: a Chemist’s Guide on Making Big Decisions”

Anthony Sementilli, Ph.D- Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science at Molloy University

Anthony Sementilli, Ph.D, is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Science Department at Molloy University. Before joining Molloy, he was a principal radiopharmaceutical production chemist at Stony Brook University Hospital, where he synthesized imaging agents for clinical research. Currently, his main research interests are in developing peptide-inspired materials and pharmaceutical countermeasures to internalized radioactive pollutants. He is also interested in experimenting with active, tactile learning modules in the classroom. Dr. Sementilli holds a Ph.D in Biomolecular Chemistry from Emory University, and a B.S. from St. Joseph’s University, New York.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge those who worked to make this event a success:

Chairperson

Jill K. Rehmann, Ph.D.

Event Coordinator

Jeonghee Kang, Ph.D.

Photographer

Amira Elramsisy and Sandra Zuri

Judges

Daniel Mace	Jill Rehmann	Loidra Anderson
Sunwoo Lee	Kareem Bagato	Andre Barrella
Edwin Castillo	Yarim Lee	Mitu Chakraborty
Daisy Custodio	LeQwan Wilson	Hadja Diallo
Pamela Lovejoy	Matthew Lundquist	Maria Montoya
Noor Nasr	Helen Qu	Jong Lee
Jeonghee Kang	Kleopatra Garo	Milana Haripersaud
Sulabh Katila	Ritika Kaul	Kevin Kolack
Isa-Marie Kreuzinger	Albina Haque	Melissa Larios-Benavides
Melissa Guercio	Obay Saidee	Sashoy Milton
Syeda Sunaina Naqvi	Gail Moran	Michael Magee
Adesewa Oyewo	Nora Plante	Skyler Price
Edwin Castillo	Saida Quispi	Emily Ramprashad
Joao Marcelo Ribeiro	Mohammed Salem	Shelsy Fils-Aime
Matthew Stadler	Andrea Stadler	Jasmina Turdieva
Shaniakay Williams	Elizabeth Zollinger	Mohammed Qasem

Volunteers

●    Gloria Asirifi-Manu
●    Rishav Basnet
●    Mandy Bhagwandeen
●    Gina Choumi Ngassam
●    Ratna Kanhai
●    Bimal Kumal
●    Branden Lopez
●    Massimo Bianco
●    Kaela Collazo
●    Joell McKeon
●    Shruti Luintel
●    Jahin Sadique
●    James Oates
●    Alish Pandey
●    Sweety Shakya
●    Dure Shehwar
●    Shruti Luintel
●    Drishya Shrestha
●    Srijana Shrestha
●    Cole Stadler
●    Sophia Stadler
●    Matthew Umerov

With support from

• Office of Institutional Advancement
• Office of Admissions