CCSD Students Selected for Summer Research Program

Natalie Pereira of Sequoyah HS researches her project: “Working with Multiple Myeloma Cells.”

Twenty-six Cherokee County School District high school rising juniors and seniors are spending this summer as student researchers through a partnership with Georgia’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center!

Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, a CCSD Partner, made the student research positions available through its role as the Georgia Science Education Initiative’s National Cancer Institute GA YES (Youth Enjoy Science) Program site.  Winship research faculty are acting as research mentors for the CCSD students, who at the six-week program’s conclusion in late July will present their research findings on a topic they selected.  Congratulations to our students, thank you to Winship for its partnership, and thank you to our School Board for its support of community partnerships!

Ava Brite, Woodstock HS, “AI, Disparities, Breast Cancer, and African Americans”
Marina Federico, Cherokee HS, “From Blood to Biomarkers: Tracking Cancer-associated Regions in Cell-free DNA”
Kristy Garcia, Etowah HS, “Palliative Care”
Reece Giles, Woodstock HS, “Deciphering the Secretome – Unveiling Differences Between Migratory and Non-migratory Head and Neck Cancers”
Ashley Graham, Woodstock HS, “Latina Communities and Genetic Testing”
Lara Hamdan, Woodstock HS, “Community-based Projects”
Carlton Hines,    Creekview HS, “Exploring Factors Related to Cancer Incidence in Younger Adults using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)”
Ava Horan, Etowah HS, “Hematopoiesis”
Halen Howell, Etowah HS, “HPV and HIV Disparities”
Akai Ibrahim, Woodstock HS, “Pediatric Cancer Social Needs and Cancer Care Under Medicaid”
Amelia Kingsbury, Cherokee HS, “Mindfulness Meditation in Patients with Metastatic Cancer and Chronic Pain”
Deigo Kricke, Cherokee HS, “Metabolism Affected by Air Pollution in Lung Cancer Cells”
Manasa Menon, Woodstock HS, “Pediatric Cancer Radiation Oncology Survivorship”
Amanda Michno, Cherokee HS, “GI Pathology”
Anora Neely, Creekview HS, “Urological Cancers Molecular”
Claire Park, River Ridge HS, “AI & Disparities”
Keshav Patchalla, River Ridge HS, “Head and Neck Cancers”
Natalie Pereira, Sequoyah HS, “Working with Multiple Myeloma Cells”
Charlotte Prichard, Sequoyah HS, “Large Scale Observational Database in Cancer Research”
Dahlen Roth, Sequoyah HS, “Multiple Myeloma”
Emily Sanchez-Gomez, River Ridge HS, “HPV Vaccine Uptake”
Mihini Senanayake, Etowah HS, “Molecular Analysis, Early Onset Cancers”
Manasa Shankar, Woodstock HS, “Automated Report Generation from Medical Images and Treatment Plans”
Kayla Umezurike-Nwabuko, Creekview HS, “Symptom Management of Cancer Treatment”
Tanvi Vallamsetty, River Ridge HS, “Map Phototherapy Across Georgia”
Isaac Wood, Etowah HS, “Metabolism and Pediatric Cancers”

Thanks to a grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, the participating students receive free bus transportation to the program each day, as well as a stipend and funding for research project supplies.  After the summer program concludes, the students will remain engaged through participation in quarterly virtual workshops and other activities throughout the school year.  

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