Harrison Seniors Celebrate Scientific Success

The following was submitted by the Harrison Central School District. to post your stories on Patch.

Harrison seniors Roi Ankawa and Melissa Goldberg placed second and fourth respectively in the 11th annual Westchester—Rockland Junior Science Humanities Symposium held at John Jay High School Feb. 4.

By finishing as competitively as they did, their success qualifies them for the next round of regional competition occurring in Albany, NY, on March 19-20.

Both students are part of the Harrison Science Research program, a potential four year program designed to assist Harrison students in becoming proficient and independent science researchers. This course encourages students to work on authentic and original scientific research with research scientists and professionals within their chosen area of interest.

Roi Ankawa ‘s original research “The Genetics and Molecular Basis of Learning” earned second-place in The Medicine and Health II category. Working with her mentor, Dr. Jana Veliskova of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at New York Medical College, Roi’s research study examines how reelin and estrogen interact in areas of the brain responsible for learning and memory.

Melissa Goldberg’s original research “Virtual Reality Based Mitigation of Pain in Pediatric Populations: A Meta-Analysis” earned fourth place accolades in the Behavior II category. Goldberg was surprised that so little research had been conducted on pediatric patients. She, under the mentoring of Dr. Christopher Tyler and last year Katarzyna Wyka, senior research statistician in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, looked at approaches to mitigating pain using either passiveor virtual reality distracting techniques in a pediatric setting.

This year the WR-JSHS drew 285 students from both Westchester and Rockland County public and private schools. The annual competition is funded through The U.S. Department of Defense and winners proceed from local competitions to regional rounds.

If successful on these two levels, students will continue to the national competition on May 9th and 10th.