Villa Duchesne Scientists

Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School seniors Katelyn Billings, Anna Coyle, Taylor Harris, Victoria Ip, and Kayla Simon have graduated from the 2013 Students and Teachers as Research Scientists (STARS) program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The students were selected to work in research labs with some of the top scientists in the St. Louis metro area. As part of the program, each student partnered with a researcher to submit the following papers:

• Katelyn Billings, “Ascorbate recycling in cultured muscle cells.” Mentor Dr. Jonathan Fisher, Saint Louis University
• Anna Coyle, “Thermodynamic characterization of naphthalimide derivatives complexed with nucleic acids.” Mentor Dr. Brent Znosko, Saint Louis University
• Taylor Harris, “Behavioral measures in assessment of a rodent model of Parkinson's Disease.” Mentor Dr. Michael Anch, Saint Louis University
• Victoria Ip, “Detecting diseases using a cell phone and PxCR.” Mentor Dr. Peter Zassenhaus, Saint Louis University
• Kayla Eli Simon, “Using three dimensional printers to create cell culture substrates.” Mentor Dr. Joshua Maurer, Washington University

Only 88 high school students from the St. Louis metro area, as well as Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, and Greece, were selected for this annual summer research program for academically talented junior and senior high school students.