Schools

Whiz Kid: Swathi Krishnan [Updated]

This 17-year-old student won first place in the Life Sciences category at the Connecticut State Fair for her breast cancer vaccine research.

[Update, May 23: From May 7-13 2011, Krishnan participated at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair along with six other students representing the state of Connecticut. At the event, over 1,500 students from over 65 different countries competed.

Krishnan was one of three Intel ISEF finalists to win full fellowships, including travel to Trento, Italy, to be part of the WebValley interdisciplinary scientific research team at the Bruno Kessler Foundation from June 19-July 9. The Fondazione Bruno Kessler is a leading research center located in Trento, Italy. WebValley, started in 2001, is the FBK Summer School program for interdisciplinary scientific research.]

Seventeen-year-old Stamford resident Swathi Krishnan is like a lot of kids her age: she likes to shop at the mall, go to the movies with her friends and frequent the public library. But one of her biggest passions also happens to be biomedical research.

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In fact, Krishnan, who is enrolled in , has been spending three days a week — plus summers — inside of a lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx where she developed and tested a breast cancer vaccine.

Her dedication to helping others through her research recently won her first place in the Life Sciences category at the Connecticut Science Fair and now she'll move on to compete in an international science fair in California later this year. Krishnan spoke with Patch about her research, her future and what inspires her the most. 

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Patch: Congratulations on winning first place, Swathi! Can you tell me a little bit about your research?

Krishnan: Thank you! A couple of years ago, the director at the lab I was working in recommended me to the breast cancer laboratory, which allowed me the opportunity to develop the vaccine. It is designed to stop metastasis — the spread of breast cancer cells to other parts of the body. There are so many women afflicted with breast cancer and metastasis is one of the big ways that patients are killed every year. I was really excited to work on such a big topic. The initial testing revealed very positive results, so I'm excited about that.

Patch: How did you become interested in biomedical research in the first place?

Krishnan: I guess I've been doing science research since the 7th grade. I was initially interested in forensic science, face recognition and biometrics, but when I was freshman in high school, I became interested biology. I emailed a lot of different professors from local universities, got some positive responses and began doing research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The summer after my freshman year, I started working in the HIV lab, which taught me so much. It was an incredible experience.

Patch: What was the process that you had to go through to make it to the Connecticut Science Fair?

Krishnan: There are forms you have to submit and guidelines and safety restrictions you have to follow. And once you get approved, you submit a research plan. Then you submit a small summary and an abstract. You also create a poster illustrating the experiment. The judges then come and look at your summary and poster, but the students aren't there for that. Once you make it through the preliminary [round], the judges look at your experiment again and ask you a lot of questions about your research. It's a grueling process.

Patch: Where will the research go from here?

Krishnan: The lab will continue the research and, perhaps, it will go into clinical trials one day. If I ever get the chance to come back, I definitely want to work on it myself. When the lab publishes the paper, I will be listed as one of the authors, which is cool.

Patch: Do you have specific plans for college and beyond?

Krishnan: Hopefully, I'll be doing research in college that is related to biology. I'm thinking of majoring in biomedical engineering, but I'm not totally sure yet.

Patch: What other extracurricular activities are you involved in?

Krishnan: Well, I'm a dancer. I've been doing Indian classical dancing for the past 12 years. I'm also involved in the school newspaper and literary magazine. I'm the editor-in-chief of both. I've also been figure skating for a number of years, both individually and synchronized. 

Patch: Who would you say inspires you the most?

Krishnan: My family. They totally encourage me, especially when it comes to my research. Everyday over the summer, my parents would drive me to the university, which is in the Bronx, and then they'd have to go to work from there, which was so great. They always encourage me to do my best.


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