High School Senior Gains Valuable Experience in Lab Work on Stroke Treatment

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 7, 2015) -- A Fayette County high school student has been named a finalist for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her work in a UK lab run by Dr. Greg Bix and Dr. Justin Fraser.

Ishi Aron, a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, won first place in the Biomedical and Health Sciences division at the Kentucky State Science Fair on March 28. She will travel to Pittsburgh in May to present her poster titled, "Novel Therapeutic Intra-Arterial Pharmacotherapy Administration For Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke," in the international competition.

Ishi began working in the Bix/Fraser lab early in the summer of 2014 with the goal of gaining lab experience. She was assigned to assist in a project looking at novel therapeutics for treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

"My time in the lab has definitely helped me feel more prepared about going into college as a science major," Ishi says. "I hope my work can inspire more students to pursue their interests on a higher level because it's a worthwhile experience."

According to Michael Maniskas, a graduate student in the Bix/Fraser lab and Ishi's direct supervisor, Ishi has been an integral part of the project.

"Our lab has been exploring the effects of a molecule called verapamil as a neuroprotectant during a stroke," Maniskas said. "Ishi has jumped right in and helped with much of the lab work, including tissue processing, protein extraction and analysis, and cell culture experiments."

"Ishi has been an invaluable resource to our lab. Her dedication to her own project is a direct reflection of her success in this year's Central Kentucky Regional Science Fair."

Ishi is now helping to validate the lab's animal experiments to determine the mechanism of action for verapamil using human cell cultures.  The animal data she and Maniskas produced has led directly to a current Phase I ongoing clinical trial studying the safety and efficacy of verapamil for patients with acute stroke.

"Given that there is currently no treatment for stroke that effectively protects brain tissue, the potential for verapamil is enormous," said Fraser.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. Doctoral level scientists judge the entries of more than 1,700 high school students from 70-plus countries, regions, and territories.

Ishi, who counts medical school among her career goals, plans to continue conducting research in college. 

Karen Young, chair of the science department at PLD, says that Ishi is the perfect illustration of the goal of the Math, Science and Technology Center at PLD, where participating students complete a 360-hour capstone research project under the guidance of a university mentor. 

"Students like Ishi Aron are not content to wait until they are in graduate school, let alone college, to start addressing their curiosity," she says. 

"The opportunity to conduct research side-by-side with graduate students and post-docs instills confidence and a greater understanding of the research process. Even if these students don’t ultimately continue in a career as a researcher, they never lose their passion for inquiry and life-long learning," she says.