WKU News

Seven Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science students received awards for their research at the Louisville Regional Science and Engineering Fair Saturday, March 7. This year marks the fourth consecutive year that The Gatton Academy will be represented at the world-renowned Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held May 9-15 in Phoenix, Arizona. Two Gatton juniors were among the five GE Best of Fair winners to earn automatic entry to the prestigious competition, Leah Chen (also of Bowling Green High School) and Jiwoo Kim (also of Model Laboratory School).

“It’s exciting to see our students’ hard work recognized each year at LRSEF,” said Sam Earls, Assistant Director for Academic Services. “Conducting research gives students the opportunity to learn a great deal in the lab setting, but their accolades at LRSEF demonstrate that they are also growing in their presentation skills and translating their work for a wider audience.”

Gatton Academy students were recognized with additional awards for their research projects.

In addition to Best of Fair, Gatton junior Leah Chen received 1^st place in the Chemistry category, an American Chemical Society Award, the Bakelite Synthetics Creative Project Award, and the Society for In Vitro Biology’s Achievement Award for her research, “Bioinspired CO2 Capture: Mimicking Carbonic Anhydrase with a Zinc (II) Histidine Metal Organic Framework.” Chen is mentored by Western Kentucky University faculty Dr. Bangbo Yan in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

In addition to Best of Fair, Gatton junior Jiwoo Kim received 1^st place in the Cellular and Molecular Biology category, the Louisville Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience’s Neuroscience Award, and the Society for In Vitro Biology’s Achievement Award for her research, “The Effects of Isoflurane on Crayfish Synaptic Transmission.” Kim is mentored by University of Kentucky faculty Dr. Robin Cooper in the Department of Biology.

Gatton junior Ismail Gilani (Taylor County High School) received 3^rd place in the Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design category for his research, “Heterodinuclear Metal-Organic Coordination Polymers as Photocatalysts in the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Under Visible Light.” Gilani is mentored by Western Kentucky University faculty Dr. Bangbo Yan in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Gatton seniors Dylan Henry (Trinity High School) and Sanam Krishnani (Sacred Heart Academy) received 3^rd place in the Biomedical and Health Sciences category and the Regeneron Biomedical Science Award for their research, “Sex-Based Differences in Neuroinflammatory Responses to Chronic Sleep Fragmentation in Mice.” Henry and Krishnani are mentored by Western Kentucky University faculty Dr. Noah Ashley in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Gatton junior Anthony Lin (Rowan County Senior High School) received 1^st place in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics category; the GE Appliances, Asia IMPACT Clear Thinker Award; and the Gibson Family Special Award Excelling in Math and/or Statistics for his research, “Mathematical Modeling of Diabetic Foot Ulcers with Individual Patient Data.” Lin is mentored by Western Kentucky University faculty Dr. Richard Schugart in the Department of Mathematics.

Gatton senior Amogh Patnaik (South Warren High School) received 3^rd place in the Software Design category for his research, “Computational Modeling of Free Association with Word2Vec and Frequency Analysis.” Patnaik is mentored by Western Kentucky University faculty Dr. Lance Hahn in the Department of Psychological Sciences.

About The Gatton Academy: Established in 2007, The Gatton Academy is Kentucky’s first residential two-year program for gifted and talented juniors and seniors. The Gatton Academy’s students enroll as juniors and are full-time WKU students pursuing their interests in advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Gatton Academy is a recipient of the 2022 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from Insight Into Diversity Magazine and the Innovation Partnership Award from the National Consortium for Secondary STEM Schools.