Update: A HUGE congratulations goes to Shorewood High School junior Riju Dey who recently participated in the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) competition and took SECOND PLACE for his virtual presentation on "The Discovery of Novel Eukaryotic-like Dual Phosphatase Kinase Regulating Secretion of the Toxin Pyocyanin in P. aeruginosa!"
He also took his presentation to the State Science Fair and won FIRST PLACE in the category of Biology and the top three Best of Fair ISEF Finalist Grand Award, as well as the following three specialty awards:
• In vitro Biology Award
• Naval Research Award
• American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) Award
Because of these achievements, he'll be representing the State Science Fair at the Regeneron International Science Engineering Fair, which will take place starting this Sunday.
Incredible work, Riju, and we wish you the best of luck in the upcoming fair!
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Shorewood High School junior Riju Dey was recently named the 1st place recipient of the 2021 Oral Presentation Award at the Wisconsin-Upper Peninsula of Michigan Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS)* for his virtual presentation on the Discovery of Novel Eukaryotic-like Dual Phosphatase Kinase Regulating Secretion of the Toxin Pyocyanin in P. aeruginosa.
Not only did Dey take first place for his presentation but, as a result, he was also nominated to compete for the prestigious Presidential Scholar Award, which is one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students and administered by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars.
“It was a huge honor for me to receive this award,” says Dey. “I was ecstatic that I was able to do research, present it in front of judges, and receive recognition for my work. JSHS was an awesome experience and I got to meet a lot of other kids from around the state who were like-minded.”
Dey was introduced to Pseudomonas aeruginosa through a mentor, Professor Bardy, who works on the pathogen at UW-Milwaukee. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an infectious pathogen that infects over 50,000 people a year but, according to Dey, its pathogenesis--how the infection develops--remains unclear so many people do research on it.
After some background research, Dey decided to do his research on a novel protein in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and figure out its role in pathogenicity.
“A lot of hard work went into this project,” says Dey. “I had to take biosafety courses and lab safety courses in preparation for the lab work. Then once in the lab, there were a lot of times that after many hours spent working on my experiments, they ended up going wrong. In addition to learning how to do experiments correctly, the theoretical component of research also proved pretty difficult.
Dey notes that while processing the background literature and compiling it into the final paper was also tiring, the experience as a whole was very rewarding.
“You get to have the experience of making progress on a completely novel problem in the field, and you also get to learn a lot about the research process.”
Dey credits mentors Professor Bardy and SIS math teacher Sam Nadolsky with helping set him up for success.
“Professor Bardy’s advice was very valuable. She taught me a lot of the necessary lab techniques, she was always there to answer my questions, and she graciously let me use her lab. Mr. Nadolsky was also really helpful. He’s actually the one who first introduced me to these science fairs in middle school and inspired me to continue.”
Dey will now be preparing for the National JSHS competition which takes place virtually April 14-17, 2021. He will focus on polishing his presentation and studying more on the science around his project.
“I’m not surprised by how much [Dey] is excelling,” says Nadolsky. “He really shines with his ability to clearly communicate about these advanced scientific topics. We're obviously quite proud of his accomplishment and we are excited to see where his research takes him in the future."
Learn more about the JSHS competition here.
Learn more about the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program here.
