| Biographies |
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| Josh - Hi, my name is Josh Lien. I'm a grade 11 student living in Waterloo Ontario. Last time I did science fair was when I was in grade 7 on how light effects ice cubes. I've grown a lot since then. This year my partner Oana Binder and I made an app that calculates a starting dose for human gene therapy trials and then uses the dose in mathematical models to predict the patient's immune response. Due to the uncertainty of gene therapy, we believe that a project like ours is the key to bringing gene therapy into mainstream medicine. Outside of science fair, my interests mainly lie in coding and music. I began coding fairly recently in grade ten and have found a lot of enjoyment in it. I am currently learning python but am interested in learning how to use MATLAB and learning to write in Javascript I love learning new ways and methods to solve different problems. As for music, I play the electric and upright bass in jazz and classically. In the future, I hope to study engineering or science at the University of Waterloo. | | Oana - My name is Oana Binder, and I'm a grade 11 student at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo, Ontario. For our project, my partner Josh Lien and I worked on creating an app that makes gene therapy dosing easier, safer and more predictable. The app calculates a recommended starting dose of adeno-associated virus vectors to be used in a gene therapy clinical trial. The app then implements the dose into mathematical models in order to make predictions about the patient's immune response and the amount of gene expression that will be achieved. In the future, we would definitely like to continue exploring more about this exciting field. During my free time, I love to play music. I play the flute and piano in various ensembles at school as well as individually. I'm also involved in several other STEM and leadership clubs as well. Math and science have always been great interests of mine, so getting to be creative and work on an in-depth project in these subject areas has been a great experience. |
| Josh Lien, Oana Binder
ViraDose: A Novel Application for Facilitating Gene Therapy Dosing
| Challenge: | Innovation | | Category: | Senior | | Region: | Waterloo-Wellington | | City: | Waterloo, ON | | School: | Laurel Heights S.S. | | Abstract: | Gene therapy is a treatment option for genetic disorders that involves delivering correctional genes to a patient. For our project, we created an application that calculates a starting dose for gene therapy in humans and then uses the dose in mathematical models to predict the patient's immune response. We believe that our app will assist in making gene therapy more viable in mainstream medicine. |
| Awards | Value | Excellence Award - Senior
Bronze Medal
Sponsor: Youth Science Canada | | University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship
Senior Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: University of Ottawa | $1 000.00 | Western University Scholarship
Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: Western University | $1 000.00 | | Total | $2 000.00 | |
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