High School Poster Session Registration and FAQ

The 27th Annual High School Poster Session

Saturday, February 1, 2025 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

This year, we will be hosting our science fair in a virtual setting via Zoom.

Keynote Speaker

Ruel Desamero, Ph.D. Professor

Department of Chemistry
City University of New York-York College

“Developing Peptide-Based Inhibitors Designed to Modulate Protein Aggregation”

Protein aggregation has long been hypothesized as the cause of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type II diabetes, and amyloidosis, among others. Many research groups, including ours, have been investigating the mechanism behind the misfolding of proteins, which eventually leads to their self-aggregation. It is hoped that an understating of the mechanism facilitates the development of potential therapeutic approaches. We detail here key in silico and in vitro techniques used to probe the interactions that are necessary to unravel the naturally stable α-helical structures to β-sheets, the hallmark of aggregation. Peptide-based modulators are synthesized using sequences derived from the amyloidogenic regions of the parent peptide or protein. Mutations are systematically introduced to interrogate how they change the amyloidogenic propensity, the tendency to form β-sheets, and the morphology of the aggregates. The results we obtained for Amylin, a peptide associated with type II diabetes, and Serum Amyloid A, whose overproduction leads to amyloidosis, will be presented.

Contacts

Jeonghee Kang, Ph.D.
Chairperson of the 27th ACS High School Science Fair
Professor of Chemistry
St. Joseph's University
[email protected]

Registration

To register as a presenter, please submit the Google Form by coordinating with your science teacher.

FAQ

• Who can participate?
  This competition is open to high school students in the Metropolitan New York Area, grades 9-12.
• If I entered the competition last year, can I register for the next event?
  Yes! St. Joseph’s High School Science Fair is an annual event. Students may register each year they wish to participate.
• What is the attire for the event?
  Students should dress professionally in business attire.
• What is the schedule of events?
  9:30 to 10:20 a.m. — Welcome and Keynote speaker
  10:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. — Judging
  Saturday, February 8 — winners of each category will be announced. Revisit this page for a complete list.
• How is judging done?
  Students will be judged by scientists working in the industry and academia. Students should expect to be judged by multiple judges.
• What awards are granted at the St. Joseph’s Poster Session?
  Every high school student registered will receive a participation certificate. There is also one first-place award and two honorable mention awards in each category.
• Is the St. Joseph’s Poster Session only for individual work or can teams enter? 
  We welcome entries from both individual and group research projects but each member of a group must register if he/ she will attend the event.