吃瓜官网

This student came to 吃瓜官网 with a clear academic interest already. He was interested in neurology and space travel, and even had the beginnings of an idea for a research project: whether or not virtual reality could be used to help astronauts on a mars mission preempt the effects of social isolation.听

What he didn鈥檛 know was how to undertake this research. Cynthia helped him refine his interest into an actionable topic, helping him narrow down what was feasible, and what could be answered. From there, she helped him focus in on a single research question.

Cynthia then helped him find relevant data. This was sourced from open source publications, many of which were done during the pandemic, an unanticipated social isolation experience for many of us. Kofi analyzed this data, and found that there was significant promise in the use of VR technology for this application.听

Of course, doing research is just the beginning. Cynthia helped Kofi find and apply for a presentation opportunity with the American Academy of Neurology, and helped him in formatting and editing a research paper. While Kofi did all of the writing himself, Cynthia provided the needed expertise to create a polished and professional academic paper. The papers written by academics are a far cry from what is assigned in high schools, and writing them is a skill in itself.听

This paper did very well; Kofi won the Bhuwan Garg High School Neuroscience Research Prize, and was awarded with a $1,000 scholarship and a chance to present his findings at the association鈥檚 annual conference.

Cynthia enjoys helping students in this way. Many come in with natural curiosity and burning questions in need of answers; she just helps them find their footing in the world of research.听

Abstract

Here is the abstract of the paper Kofi submitted:听

“Long-term space travel, including tours of months or years on the ISS, manned lunar missions, and possible future manned Mars missions, produces multiple physiological changes, including musculoskeletal wasting, metabolic changes, ophthalmological issues, and neurological effects. These changes may be associated with increased exposure to radiation and the consequences of microgravity over an extended period.听 However, another contributor to the neurological effects seen, including cognitive issues and various effects on mental health, may be social isolation.听 These effects, including depression, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and declines in problem-solving ability, are seen in direct comparison studies between astronauts on extended space missions and their land-based counterparts. Changes are seen neuroanatomically, examined through fMRI studies, and neurochemically.听 Interestingly, some of these same effects are seen in other groups socially isolated, including the elderly and students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.听 Therefore, we hypothesize that alternative methods of communication to combat social isolation, including the use of virtual reality, will prevent some of these deleterious changes.听 The current study was performed using a meta-analysis of existing data from the literature on social isolation and the use of VR to support this hypothesis.听 We found that VR, particularly virtual nature, combats feelings of social isolation and prevents some of the neurological changes associated with long-term isolation.听 This suggests that VR is an effective way to combat the neurological effects of social isolation during long-term space travel.”

Gary came to us with an already impressive resume. He was a devoted scholar and researcher, who had arranged numerous lab opportunities for himself, and had several publications under his belt. This was quite impressive; he had been pursuing research since he started high school, and also had clear ideas about what he wanted from college, with Stanford as his absolute dream school.

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What he needed help from us most was with his writing. He was a proficient writer, certainly not a bad one, but with a lack of focus, and a difficulty tying his ideas into a unified whole. He had a clear idea of what he wanted to say, the sorts of messages he wanted to convey to colleges, but was having trouble expressing it.听

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Coming to 吃瓜官网, he was matched with Dr. Cynthia, one of our research mentors who also advises students on the application process. Her extensive experience in medical research made her well suited to understand Gary鈥檚 past endeavors, and how to best explain what he鈥檇 done to colleges.

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They began with summer program applications, focused specifically on the Research Science Institute (RSI), one of the premier STEM summer programs, administered by MIT. Cynthia helped him explain his past research experience, and in so doing express his values and desires. This was what he needed help with, aligning his values and experiences with what the program wanted to see, and weaving them through his essays into a consistent narrative.

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Cynthia and he worked collaboratively to build his essays, and he was accepted into RSI. When it came time to apply to colleges, they followed the same approach, beginning with Stanford鈥檚 REA application.听

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Through the writing process, Cynthia and Gary worked collaboratively, working through ideas and themes to find the ones that best showcased who he was and what he valued, not being afraid to scrap an essay or idea if they reached a dead end. This was an extensive process at times, often requiring long discussions about each essay, but the process worked, and the essays they created were remarkable.听

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The long hours of work proved well worth it, with Gary accepted to Stanford in the Restrictive Early Action Round. They had planned to apply to other schools of course, and been working on those essays diligently, but since he鈥檇 gotten into his dream school, there was no need to continue that. We鈥檙e all quite proud of Gary and the work he鈥檚 done, and expect to see great things from him in the future.听