High School Researcher in Schaus Lab Wins SIEMENS Award
The Research Internship in Science & Engineering Program (RISE) provides academically motivated high school seniors the opportunity to conduct university-level research in state-of-the-art laboratories.
In the summer of 2011, Joshua Kubiak, a senior from the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts (Natchitoches, LA), joined the laboratory of Professor Scott Schaus to conduct research for 3 months on Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Ortho-Quinone Methides as a Pathway to Communesin Analogs.
Under the mentorship of Professor Schaus and graduate student, Yi Luan, Joshua made a molecular scaffold which can then be built upon to create chemical compounds with potential medicinal applications. The quality of his research has been recognized by a Siemens Foundation Award.
Joshua is the first student from his school to be named a Regional Finalist in the Siemens Competition, and he plans to pursue a career in drug design and development.