91社区

Continuing its commitment to undergraduate research and encouraging high school students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, 91社区 has completed the eighth year of its Mini-Research Grant Awards (MRGA) program. Research projects were received from 42 high schools across the country; 35 grants were awarded to projects from 22 high schools.

The $300 awards are made possible through the support of the Voya Foundation, whose funding supports the university鈥檚 continued commitment to diversify STEM leadership. The $300 awards are applied to expenses the high school student-researchers incurred during new or continuing research in STEM and related disciplines this academic year. The 2025 program received nearly 150 research project submissions; the number of student applications totaled 243. 

The review committee includes Niharika Nath, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences who founded the program eight years ago and continues to oversee it; Rosemary Gallagher, D.P.T., Ph.D., professor of physical therapy; Wenjia Li, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science; and Amy Bravo, senior director of career success and experiential education. 91社区 undergraduate and graduate students who assisted in the grant review process are biology students Andrew Attia, Desirae Rausch, and Yamini Patel; biotechnology students Heer Bhuva and Vishva Patel; Doctor of Physical Therapy students Charles Siguenza and Daniel Chan; M.B.A. student Sarada Swarna, and computer science graduate student Pradnya Gite.

The high school research projects ranged in topic from 鈥�Assessing the Gastrointestinal Permeability in Caenorhabditis elegans Exposed to Gluten and Casein: Implications for Autism Spectrum Disorder鈥� submitted by Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, Calif., to the 鈥淚mpact of Native Indian Grass Blend (Sorghastrum nutans, Elymus canadensis, Andropogon gerardii) on Metal Contaminants in Soil鈥� submitted by Global Impact STEM Academy in Springfield, Ohio. Many projects were submitted by high schools in the New York metropolitan area, including Walt Whitman High School in South Huntington on Long Island. A five-student research team submitted 鈥淭he Development of a Replicable Low-Cost Lycorma Delicatula Trap鈥� to research the invasive spotted lanternfly threatening agriculture and ecosystems in the northeastern United States. A local highlighted the team鈥檚 success in the MRGA program. also highlighted two winning projects from Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, N.Y.

Topics of research projects selected for MRGA funding include:

• 鈥淯sing ML to Protect ML: Defending against Malicious Clients in Public, Large-Scale Privacy-Preserving Model Training Scenarios鈥�
• 鈥淎n Affordable Robotic Exoskeleton for Those with Mobility Difficulties鈥�
• 鈥淭he Correlation of Type 2 Diabetes in Increasing the Risk of Alzheimer鈥檚 and Utilizing Ashwagandha as a Potential Therapeutic鈥�
• 鈥�Ear-ly Detection: A Machine Learning Approach to Identification of Ear Diseases鈥�
• 鈥淏ioCycle: A Novel Biodiesel Reactor for Sustainable Waste Oil Recycling in Small and Mid-Sized Restaurants鈥�
• 鈥淧ollinator Preference between Native and Cultivar Varieties of New England Asters鈥�
• 鈥淯sing A Dual Model Reinforced Learning Setup to Generate Energy Efficient Building Designs鈥�
• 鈥淯nveiling the Impact of Fertilizers on Algae: Investigating Agricultural Runoff鈥檚 Role in Toxic Blooms鈥�

鈥淭hank you for choosing our group studying the role of agricultural runoff in toxic blooms to win the mini-grant award. We are very excited to accept this award and are very grateful for your support,鈥� said Gisselle Jaime, a student at Brentwood High School. 鈥淲e are extremely excited to use the money toward buying a microscope that can observe algae cells, so that we can see the difference between the groups with fertilizer and the ones without it.鈥�

Applications for the ninth annual Mini-Research Grant Award for high school students will open in fall 2025.