Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 15, 2005|Volume 32, Number 26

Carrie Pestritto

Student's internship earns her
accolades in Westinghouse contest

Someday Carrie Pestritto may look back at the summer of 2004 as the season that changed her life.

Pestritto was one of 10 summer interns from area high schools who worked alongside Yale researchers at the School of Medicine and the Yale Cancer Center as part of a program designed to spark teens' interest in science and medicine.

As a result of that experience, Pestritto has changed her plan to study English in college to a focus on molecular biology, and she has been named a semi-finalist in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition.

"The hands-on experience and ability to apply my own research to realize scientific outcomes was very exciting to me," explains Pestritto, a senior at Mercy High School in Middletown, Connecticut.

The internship program -- jointly funded by Yale Cancer Center and Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc., a pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York City and locally based in Wallingford, Connecticut -- matches high school students with research scientists at Yale, who serve as mentors. Students are nominated by their science teachers and apply with an essay explaining why they would like to participate in the program and what they hope to gain from the experience. They work in the Yale Cancer Center and the medical school's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences (Ob-Gyn).

"Our goal is to expose high quality students from neighboring communities to Yale's labs and possibly open their minds to future career opportunities," notes Dr. Gil Mor, associate professor in Ob-Gyn.

Pestritto worked alongside Vikki Abrahams, another assistant professor in Ob-Gyn, analyzing levels of placental trophoblast cell apoptosis -- or programmed cell death -- and their relationship to severe pregnancy complications. Understanding that there is both beneficial apoptosis and detrimental apoptosis, Pestritto focused her research project on the effects of bacterial components on trophoblast survival and wrote a mini-thesis to submit to the Siemens Westinghouse Competition.

The leading science and mathematics research-based competition for high school students in the United States, the Siemens Westinghouse Competition places great emphasis on authentic scientific research.

"My internship experience allowed me to participate in a highly competitive national contest and achieve semi-finalist status," says Pestritto. "Vikki was a great mentor; I was amazed that she would take the time out of her busy schedule to help me with my submission."

"Yale Cancer Center is proud of Carrie's accomplishment and pleased to be able to fund and promote such a wonderful opportunity for Connecticut high school students," said Dr. Richard L. Edelson, director of the Yale Cancer Center. "I hope the summer internship program will continue to grow and encourage more students to focus their studies in science and medicine."

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Team uses lasers to control specially modified fruit flies

Financial aid increased for Ph.D. students

Exhibits recount Yale's history and the contributions of its alumni

Visitor Center enjoys pride-of-place as it showcases Yale

Event will bring together staff, students to help city groups

Kim Bottomly has been named as a deputy provost . . .

Zedillo appointed envoy to U.N.'s summer summit

Yale undergraduates make impressive showing in . . .

Cycle of August Wilson plays to conclude with 'Radio Golf'

Next Yale Rep season features new plays . . .

Monthly injections of naltrexone in combination with therapy . . .

Researchers identify a protein in the kidney that regulates . . .

Conference pays tribute to ethicist Margaret Farley

Panel and exhibit mark 30th anniversary of fall of Saigon

Event honors individuals who have contributed to women's health

Conference will consider future of controversial Voting Rights Act

Culture and community

Event highlights new research on AIDS

YALE CANCER CENTER NEWS

World-renowned researcher Foss to join staff

Student's internship earns her accolades in Westinghouse contest