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Local students shine in science fairs

Students from BRF’s EdVentures programs place in regional and state competitions

The Bobbie Cates Hicks Science and Medicine Academic Research Training (SMART) and Biotechnology Magnet Academy’s (BTA) BioStart Internship programs are both part of BRF’s EdVentures education initiative to build the region’s science and technology workforce.

Five of the SMART program’s participants competed and placed in the Louisiana Region 1 Science and Engineering Fair and two advanced to compete in the state fair event at the end of March. Additionally, one student in the BTA BioStart Internship program at Southwood High School also competed and placed in the regional and state fairs.

BioStart student Brantley Welch is pictured above.

Participants who placed in the Louisiana State Science and Engineering Fair

  • (SMART) Anjali Veerareddy, Caddo Parish Magnet High School – 2nd place Computational Biology
  • (BTA) Brantley Welch, Southwood High School – 3rd place Biomedical & Health Sciences

SMART student Anika Alla is pictured on the left along with peers Sophie Chen and Arjun Desai.

Participants who placed in the Louisiana Region 1 Science and Engineering Fair

SMART student winners:

  • Anika Alla, Caddo Parish Magnet High School – 1st place Translational Medicine and 1st overall division winner receiving a bid to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles in May.
  • Anjali Veerareddy, Caddo Parish Magnet High School – 1st place Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
  • Hannah Fry, Airline High School – 3rd place Biomedical and Health Science
  • Chloe Liles, C.E. Byrd High School – 3rd place Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • Hudson Roberts, C.E. Byrd High School – 3rd place Biomedical Engineering

BTA Biostart Internship program winner:

  • Brantley Welch, Southwood High School – 2nd place Biomedical and Health Science

SMART student Hudson Roberts is pictured above.

The SMART program, launched in 1997, is a yearlong research experience for 8-14 academically advanced high school seniors from Caddo, Bossier and DeSoto parishes. The students work alongside investigators at LSU Health Shreveport on research studies. SMART students have a career interest in medicine, biomedical research or biomedical engineering. The program is a partnership among BRF; LSU Health Shreveport; and the Caddo, Bossier and DeSoto Parish School Boards.

In 2009, BRF helped launch the Biotechnology Magnet Academy and BioStart programs in conjunction with the Caddo Parish School Board, LSU Health Shreveport, LSU Shreveport, participating biotech companies and Southwood High School. The BioStart Internship program gives six to 10 seniors from BTA the opportunity to conduct a research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor at LSU Health Shreveport. Each year, the four-year academy serves around 200 students, many of whom are women, minorities, and first-generation college bound.

Funding for BRF’s EdVentures programs comes from the generosity of donors including the late Bobbie Cates Hicks, the Bruce J. Heim Foundation, CenterPoint Energy Foundation, the Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s Give for Good donors, the Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s William C. Woolf Fund, the Poindexter Foundation and the Magale Foundation. If you would like to donate to BRF’s EdVentures programs, please visit brfla.org/donate-now.