(North Bergen, NJ--May 1, 2018)Sarah Bacha, a North Bergen resident at High Tech High School, has been named one of 100 award recipients for the third year of PBS’s and Stand Up To Cancer’s Emperor Science Award program, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.
The program, designed to empower high school students to become the next generation of scientists, assists students in exploring careers in cancer research and care through a unique mentoring opportunity. PBS and Stand Up To Cancer, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, received nearly 600 applications from eligible 10th and 11th grade students interested in pursuing a career in science research from 28 states throughout the U.S. Prominent scientists served as judges and evaluated the students’ applications: written essays submitted online this fall, addressing how cancer has affected them or their communities; how science can help find a cure for cancer; and, if able to become cancer researchers, what scientific fields would they study and why.
Dr. Nina Lavlinskaia, veteran AP Biology and AP Seminar teacher at High Tech, shows great pride in Sarah’s accomplishments. “We are very proud of Sarah,” she says, “We are wishing her good luck in the future as she peruses her passion of biological and medical science.”
The 100 Emperor Science Award recipients will work with an esteemed university scientist on a rewarding multi-week cancer research project, receive a Google Chromebook computer to enhance their studies and to facilitate mentor access for those students who live at a distance from their mentor’s research facility, and a $1,500 stipend for expenses. Those entering the program for the first year will also have the opportunity to apply for a second year.
Students from rural, suburban and urban communities in 28 states comprise the third class of Emperor Science Awardees. These students demonstrated awareness of emerging developments in cancer treatment, including precision medicine, immunotherapy and epigenetics, and have an impressive range of research focuses and interests, including nanotechnology and engineering, basic cellular biology, gene mapping, bioinformatics, DNA splicing and computational sciences.
Bacha, a junior at High Tech, loves science and has a passion for biomedicine. A two-time recipient of the Young Science Achievers Program Grant and an avid member of her school’s Apiculture Research Program, Bacha mentors underclassmen and teaches them how to conduct their own experiments. She has also been a part of High Tech’s Envirothon team and Science League for three years. Besides taking part in science, Sarah has membership in the school's French Club and she teaches children about science in her free time.
