As further proof of the achievements made by some of the outstanding students in our area, we would like to recognize Academy at the Lakes junior Sophia Sokolowski and 2011 Wharton High graduate Jasmine Roberts, both of whom took home multiple awards from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which was held in Los Angeles in May.

After finishing first in the Biochemistry  division at the Pasco County Regional Science Fair earlier this year (where she also received the Future Female Scientist Award and the Outstanding Achievement for Ability and Creativity in In Vitro Biology Award), and second in the statewide competition, Sokolowski, 16, was chosen to be among the more than 1,500 high school students from 65 countries to compete in the ISEF, considered the most prestigious educational competition in the world.

At the ISEF, Sokolowski’s project, which examined the way in which a certain set of proteins interact in the body to affect hearing, received a pair of Special Awards from the U.S. Army and U.S.  Air Force totaling more than $5,000. As talented as she is in the lab, however, Sokolowski, who is a resident of New Tampa, also excels outside of it as well. She has been a professional opera singer for five years, and in February she took part in the Opera Tampa Chorus’ “Night of Stars” concert with the legendary tenor and conductor Placido Domingo. She also recently performed in Opera  Tampa’s production of “La Traviata.

On To Johns Hopkins! Roberts, 18, graduated with a weighted GPA above 6.2, which ranks her as one of the top-10 students in her graduating class of nearly 540 students. She has logged more than 1,000 community service hours and is a member of the Bible Based Fellowship Church of Temple Terrace. One of her objectives in life is to become a medical doctor (general surgeon). Jasmine
will attend Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, in the fall.

At the Intel ISEF last month, Roberts competed against more than 1,500 science projects from the USA, Canada and from 65 different countries (Japan, China, UK, etc.). She won second place and brought home more than $12,000 from the Fair. In addition, last month Jasmine won the Wharton High School Golden Wildcat Award and Science Excellence Award.

Jasmine has competed and placed in the State and Regional Science and Engineering Fair for seven straight years. For 2011, her science project was entitled “Monocytic Gene Cell Therapy: Potential Treatment For Alzheimer’s Disease.” Jasmine is conducting cutting edge technology research at the University of South Florida (USF) Johnny Byrd Alzheimer’s Research Center under the mentoring of Dr. Marcia Gordon.

She has been conducting research investigation on a treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease for the past four years. She is literally conducting surgical (making incision on top of scalp & drilling holes into the skull) cutting technique procedures. Jasmine went through extensive training in the lab to receive her own personal IACUC number. This IACUC number allows her to work on cutting edge projects in the lab that require conducting surgery.

You may remember Jasmine from her 2006 science project, for which she received national recognition. Entitled “How Safe Is Fast Food Restaurant’s?” Jasmine science project garnered her an opportunity to appear on the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Good Morning America,” “Inside Edition,” CNN and Fox News.

Honors & Awards
Jasmine is one of the first students in the Hillsborough County School District to be a Science World Champion by winning at the Intel International Science Fair. She also was the first Wharton High student to win first place & MVP awards at the Regional level three consecutive years.

In 2010, she was Wharton High’s first-ever State Science Fair first place winner and MVP Champion. She also was the first student in Hillsborough County Regional Science competition to win first  place & MVP awards five times over the last six years and the first student to conduct surgical procedures at the Hillsborough Regional Science Fair.

This summer, Jasmine will be working for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD. She has an eight-week paid summer internship and, after the eight weeks, internship, she will present her findings to the NIH scientific committee.

In the U.S., more than 5 million people suffer with Alzheimer’s and by next year, nearly half a million new cases are expected to be diagnosed. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause  of death in the U.S. The increased numbers of people with Alzheimer’s will have a significant impact on our states’ budget infrastructures, healthcare systems, families and caregivers, as the baby boomers generation (people born between 1946-1964) becomes older. The significance of developing a new treatment for Alzheimer’s will 1) save taxpayers millions of dollars in healthcare costs, 2) improve the quality of life for Alzheimer’s victims, and 3) increase the survival rate of individuals.

Jasmine would like to thank both Ms. Carmen Austin (Science Dept. Head) at Wharton High School and Dr. Marcia Gordon at USF for their patience and support.