Since 2005, talented high school students from Palm Beach County have had the rare opportunity to explore careers in biomedical research during paid summer internships in our laboratories.
Since then, more than 200 high school juniors and seniors have completed internships under the supervision of our scientists and graduate students, thanks to the generosity of the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.
This year, with matching support from the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation, an additional 15 students will start their Kenan fellowships here June 12. After a day of orientation and training, on Tuesday they will join labs working in chemistry, neuroscience, drug discovery, virology and molecular biology, probing questions about cellular oxidative damage, viral immunity, memory formation processes, cancer growth and more. Their summer research experience will culminate on Aug. 4 when they present their work to their peers.
“I am very grateful to the Kenan Trust for their commitment and continued support of our educational programs for over 15 years,” said Rosie Albarran Zeckler, Ph.D., academic support services manager. “It has allowed the best and brightest students in Palm Beach County, many from communities traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research, to receive an opportunity of a lifetime, experience ‘real-life’ research and shape their future career decisions.”
The 2023 Kenan Fellows are:
- Emily Figueredo of Suncoast High School, who will intern in the lab of James Burke, Ph.D.
- Priya Gowda of Dreyfoos School of the Arts, who will intern in the lab of Sathya Puthanveettil, Ph.D.
- Ava Grave de Peralta, of Dreyfoos School of the Arts, who will intern in the lab of Matthew Disney, Ph.D.
- Neha Jupalli of Jupiter Community High School, who will intern in the High Throughput Molecular Screening lab with Louis Scampavia, Ph.D., and Timothy Spicer, Ph.D.
- Boyoung Lee of Dreyfoos School of the Arts, who will intern in the High Throughput Molecular Screening lab with Louis Scampavia, Ph.D., and Timothy Spicer, Ph.D.
- Emelie Lewis, of William T. Dwyer High School, who will intern in the lab of Sathya Puthanveettil, Ph.D.
- Hope Luo, of Dreyfoos School of the Arts, who will intern in the lab of Baoji Xu, Ph.D.
- Ijeoma Nwankwo, of Palm Beach Central High School, who will intern in the lab of Srinivasa Subramaniam, Ph.D.
- Hannah Peck, of William T. Dwyer High School, who will intern in the lab of Thomas Bannister, Ph.D.
- Beatriz Pinto, of Jupiter Community High School, who will intern in the lab of Courtney Miller, Ph.D.
- Kristina Saine, of Palm Beach Central High School, who will intern in the High Throughput Molecular Screening lab with Louis Scampavia, Ph.D., and Timothy Spicer, Ph.D.
- Gayatri Sathanarayan, of Suncoast High School, who will intern in the lab of Kirill Martemyanov, Ph.D.
- Samuel Schweitzer, of Boca Raton High School, who will intern in the lab of James Burke, Ph.D.
- Arianna Tran, of Suncoast High School, who will intern in the lab of Kate Carroll, Ph.D.
- Jeffrey Yu, of American Heritage High School, who will intern in the lab of Tom Kodadek, Ph.D.