CSSF Project Listings: 2014
Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology

Senior Division

S0501

Elizabeth Aguilar, Grade 12
Charlotte R. DeLay, Grade 12
The Effects of Various Marinades on the Denaturation of the Carcinogen PhIP Found in Grilled Chicken
Advisor: Mr. Angelo Griego
School: Sultana High School, Hesperia, San Bernardino County

S0502

Emma C. Calle, Grade 9
Can You "C" The Difference?
Advisor: Mr. Paul Hunt
School: Villa Park High School, Villa Park, Orange County

S0503

Edwin Campos, Grade 12
Angel A. Rodriguez, Grade 12
Do Different Types of Cacti Help Disperse Oil More Efficiently?
Advisor: Ms. Mercia Dacono
School: Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet HS, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County

S0504 — Honorable Mention

Jessica L. Cao, Grade 12
Philippe A. Tran, Grade 12
The Effects of Glucose on Totipotent Cell Formation and Differentiation
Advisor: Mr. Sunny Kaura
School: Centennial High School, Corona, Riverside County

S0505 — Honorable Mention

Eric C. Chen, Grade 11
Nathan H. Ng, Grade 12
Novel B-cell Epitope Prediction from Intrinsically Disordered Protein Region Positioning
Advisor: Mr. Brinn Belyea
School: Rancho Bernardo High School, San Diego, San Diego County, Torrey Pines High School, Encinitas, San Diego County

S0506

Noah K. Chow, Grade 12
Meghan M. Lorenz, Grade 12
Comparing Ascorbic Acid Content between Organic and Non-organic Malus domestica
Advisor: Dr. Nikki Malhotra
School: Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks, Ventura County

S0507

Rachel L. Dault, Grade 11
DNA Barcoding
Advisor: Ms. Bethany Dixon
School: Western Sierra Collegiate Academy, Rocklin, Placer County

S0508 — Honorable Mention

Armine I. Dingilian, Grade 10
The Effect of Potassium Persulfate-induced Hydrogen Peroxide Use in Hair Bleaching Product on Human Hair Properties
Advisor: Mr. Michael Antrim
School: Woodbridge High School, Irvine, Orange County

S0509

Ryan C. Fong, Grade 9
Ancient Chinese Secrets: An Investigation of Antioxidant Properties of Various Chinese Herbs
Advisor: Mr. Jonathan Bowns
School: Clovis North High School, Fresno, Fresno County

S0510

Keoni K. Gandall, Grade 9
Recoding M13 for Improved Phage Display
Advisor: Dr. Chang Liu
School: Edison High School, Huntington Beach, Orange County

S0511

Dylan H. Harootunian, Grade 9
Sucrose to Glucose: Is Organic Baby Food Really Better?
Advisor: Mrs. Brenda Royce
School: University High School, Fresno, Fresno County

S0512

Lauren M. Hinkley, Grade 9
Correlation between p53 Protein and Cancer Susceptibility in Different Species
Advisor: Dr. Nikki Malhotra
School: Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks, Ventura County

S0513 — First Place

Ezra M. Kosviner, Grade 11
3D Structure of Powerful Antimicrobial and Potential Cancer Treatment Naegleriapore A
Advisor: Mr. Ariel Haas
School: Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, San Diego County

S0514

Sean G. Laput, Grade 12
Kyle M. Marik, Grade 12
Using D. melanogaster to Explore the Genetics of the Early Stage Development of the Human Hematopoietic System
Advisor: Dr. Nikki Malhotra
School: Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks, Ventura County

S0515

Cody L. Lim, Grade 11
Pb and Sugar Sandwich: The Effects of Lead (II) Ion on Glucose Metabolism Rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Advisor: Ms. Glendy Ramirez-De La Cruz
School: Bravo (Francisco) Medical Magnet High School, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County

S0516

Nafi Mizan, Grade 12
Optimized Electroformation Settings for the Formation of Giant Unilamellar Vesicles
Advisor: Ms. Glendy Ramirez-De La Cruz
School: Bravo (Francisco) Medical Magnet High School, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County

S0517

Brandon W. Ng, Grade 10
A Novel Reporter System for Analyzing and Evaluating a Smart Bomb Approach to Annihilate HIV
Advisor: Dr. John Burnett
School: Walnut High School, Walnut, Los Angeles County

S0518 — Fourth Place

Natalie Ng, Grade 12
A Genome-Wide Analysis Tool to Identify Functional Regulatory Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (rSNPs) Impacting Disease
Advisor: Mr. Joe Kim
School: Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, Santa Clara County

S0519

Emily M. Pang, Grade 12
Investigating the Opposing Roles of gC1qR and cC1qR as Mechanisms for Inhibiting Cancer Pathogenesis
Advisor: Dr. Berhane Ghebrehiwet
School: Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, Contra Costa County

S0520

Brody J. Pettek, Grade 12
Taylor J. Sunseri, Grade 12
The Search for Bispecific IgG4 Antibodies and Their Biological Role in Diphtheria and Tetanus Vaccinations
Advisor: Dr. Nikki Malhotra
School: Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks, Ventura County

S0521

Swetha Revanur, Grade 10
Factomics: A Cloud-enabled Web Portal Incorporating Gene Expression and GWAS Facilitating Disease Causation Analysis
Advisor: Mr. David Walz
School: Evergreen Valley High School, San Jose, Santa Clara County

S0522

Vishnu Shankar, Grade 12
3D Structure of DP Prostaglandin G-protein Coupled Receptor Bound to Selective Antagonists from GEnSeMBLE Predictions
Advisor: Mrs. Renee Fallon
School: Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, Santa Clara County

S0523

Shelby L. Shankel, Grade 12
Palladium-Catalyzed Direct Arylation of Amino Acids
Advisor: Dr. Nikki Malhotra
School: Thousand Oaks High School, Thousand Oaks, Ventura County

S0524

Vaishnavi Shrivastava, Grade 11
Targeted Cancer Therapy and Diagnosis: Analyzing miRNA Expression Signatures & Interactions for Glioblastoma Progression
Advisor: Dr. Olivier Gevaert
School: Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, Alameda County

S0525 — Third Place

Sriram Somasundaram, Grade 11
Novel Design and Evaluation of Chitosan Nanoparticle Ocular Drug Delivery System
Advisor: Dr. Gary Blickenstaff
School: Harker (The) School, San Jose, Santa Clara County

S0526

Chaitra S. Subbarao, Grade 10
DNA Sequence Analysis Reveals Differences between Epazote Downy Mildew and Other Downy Mildews
Advisor: Dr. Steven Klosterman
School: Salinas High School, Salinas, Monterey County

S0527 — Second Place

Emily S. Wang, Grade 12
Illuminating Disease Pathways: Developing Bright Fluorescent Proteins to Improve FRET Biosensing
Advisor: Mrs. Elana Zizmor
School: Gunn (Henry M.) High School, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County

S0528

Vahe S. Yacoubian, Grade 10
An Innovative Method of Reducing Cholesterol in Foods by Converting It into Vitamin D
Advisor: Mr. Mark Michail
School: A.G.B.U. Manoogian Demirdjian School, Canoga Park, Los Angeles County