New Canaan HS Student Wins Acorda Scientific Excellence Award

From a New Canaan Patch Reader:

David Carratu is the first New Canaan High School student to win the Acorda Scientific Excellence Award (ASEA). Acorda Therapeutics, a leading biotechnology company located in Ardsley, N.Y. has partnered with WGCH-AM Radio to create an award for scientific excellence that honors Westchester, Putnam, and Fairfield County high school students. ASEA recognizes outstanding high school students who are involved in independent research in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). Winners are announced throughout the academic year. The winning student is invited to discuss his or her research project on a radio interview program called “The Acorda Scientific Excellence Award.” Additionally, winning students and their schools each receive a plaque recognizing and honoring their achievement. The program, hosted by Lisa Wexler, airs Saturday mornings on radio station AM 1490 WGCH.

Applications submitted by these students are evaluated by a committee comprised of scientists from Acorda Therapeutics, Westchester science educators, Lisa Wexler and a representative from Westchester County government. Encouraged by his NCHS AP Biology and Science Research program teacher, Jessica Zych, Carratu submitted his application on the science research he conducted during summer 2015 through the Discovery to Cure eight-week science research internship program at the Yale School of Medicine. This highly selective internship with an acceptance rate of less than 10 percent introduces high school students to scientific research at Yale’s biomedical laboratories by giving them the opportunity to lead their own research project under the supervision of a mentor.

Carratu conducted his own research project under the mentoring of Seth Guller, PhD, director and senior research Scientist at Yale. Guller had studied the effect of many diseases such as pre-eclampsia on the development of the placenta. His main research area is identifying potential causes of adverse pregnancy outcomes. David’s project focused on how herpes virus infection of placental macrophages affects protein expression and the initiation of the inflammatory response in the placenta. Carratu performed Western Blotting, qPCR and ELISA experiments to analyze protein expression and the mechanisms behind activation of the inflammatory response in the placenta. Carratu presented his research findings to an audience of other interns, researchers and doctors at the conclusion of the program at the Yale School of Medicine.

Carratu was interviewd by Wexler on his research for the Acorda Scientific Excellence Award radio show on Thursday, March 24, and the interview aired Saturday, March 26.