Biographies |
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Xinran (Hannah) - I am currently attending Old Scona High School and is currently in grade 10. At school, I have joined Unicef club so that I am able to help out with charity. Along with Unicef, I am also in the OSA magazine club and has taken the position of one of the photographers. My biggest talent and hobby is playing the violin. I have been playing the instrument for 8 years and have won many certificates and scholarships from competitions. However, I desperately wish to learn piano. Due to a lack of time, that dream is unachievable. | Amit - My name is Amit Persad and I am a twelfth grade student attending Old Scona Academic High School in Edmonton, Alberta. I began attending Old Scona in the fall of 2007, immediately finding interest in the cell biology aspect of the biological sciences. My activities are by no means limited to academia; I participate i competitive swimming and volunteer regularly at the Stollery Children's Hospital. My adventures in cancer research began just last summer, where I was given a position as a summer project student working on the PTEN/Melanoma project. Some of the important figures to be used in the melanoma paper have been produced by myself. I was awarded second place at the Edmonton Regional Science Fair as well as second place at the Sanofi-Aventis Biotalent Challenge for the same beta-catenin project that will be presented at CWSF by Hanna and myself. I will be continuing my summer research at the University this summer, having been granted a summer student scholarship and position. Like any other teenage boy, I enjoy video games, hanging out with my friends, and messing around with sports. I am 17 years of age. |
| Xinran (Hannah) Yu, Amit Persad PTEN: Halting Progression of Metastatic Melanoma
Division: | Earth & Environmental Sciences | Category: | Senior | Region: | Edmonton | City: | Edmonton, AB | School: | Old Scona School | Abstract: | β-catenin, a multifunctional protein involved in cell-cell adhesion and transcription of harmful oncogenes, is deregulated in about 50% of melanomas. However, its regulatory pathway, Wnt, is abnormal in only about 5% of melanomas. PTEN, an important tumour suppressor and key inhibitor of the PI-3K pathway, is downregulated in melanoma. We reintroduced PTEN to metastatic melanoma cells to observe the effect on β-catenin expression and localization. |
Awards | Value | Dalhousie University Faculty of Science Entrance Scholarship Senior Gold Medallist - $4000 Entrance Scholarship Sponsor: Dalhousie University, Faculty of Science | $4 000.00 | UBC Science (Vancouver) Entrance Award Senior Gold Medallist - $4000 Entrance Scholarship Sponsor: The University of British Columbia (Vancouver) | $4 000.00 | University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship Senior Gold Medallist - $20,000 Entrance Scholarship ($5,000 each year for 4 years) Sponsor: University of Ottawa | $20 000.00 | The University of Western Ontario Scholarship Gold Medallist - $4000 Entrance Scholarship Sponsor: University of Western Ontario | $4 000.00 | Gold Medal - Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Sciences Senior Sponsor: Youth Science Canada | $1 500.00 | Total | $33 500.00 | |