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Teens wins twice at science fair By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 7 · Thursday, May 20, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com FIREWORKS CANADA C AN GOVERNMENT LICENSED TECHNICIANS ON STAFF An Oakville high school student returned home from San Jose with top accolades and professional feedback to help her continue her research. Vivian Leung competed at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (May 9-14) with her project Morphological and Functional Characterization of Lower Female Genital Epithelial Cell Cultures Grown in Different Conditions. She placed fourth in the Vivian Leung Cellular and Molecular Biology category. In addition to her category placement, she also finished second for the National Anti-Vivisection Society Best Advancement in Humane Research. The two prizes include $2,500 in rewards. "I got some good feedback from the judges and am excited to continue working on this project this summer," she said in an e-mail. The 17-year-old Abbey Park High School student was given the nod to go to the competition when she took second place in March at the Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair (BASEF) in Hamilton. The international competition in San Jose included 1,600 projects from 59 countries. Twenty Canadians competed. Leung said the genital epithelial cells, which form the top most layer of the reproductive tract, play an important role as the first barrier against viruses and sexually-transmitted diseases, such as HIV. "One of the major issues in the research world right now is a discrepancy between your lab controlled setting versus doing things on real-life human beings," she said. For her project, she tried to create a better lab model to accurately reflect the human body settings. She used an air-liquid interface versus a conventional method, which looks more like the natural body cells. She said, "This model's been used for other types of epithelium cells, but never in the context of the reproductive tract cells. So we can use this model to look at how herpes interacts with it or HIV potentially to look for better treatments and even a cure for these diseases." Leung will be attending Harvard University next year. OFF 20% AD ONLY. ITH THIS W NHL tough guy or visit THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY, & MONDAY O OPEN 9:00am-9:00pm Monday7:00pm ED D & OPERAT WNE S CANADIAN O TECHNICIAN NSED NMENT LICE Ask about our GOVER E IENC specials for EARS EXPER 20 Y S apartments, ED PACKAGE APH townhomes CHOREOGR and show TION HUGE SELEC AYS organizers. ORKS DISPL IREW CUSTOM F Join us Sat., May 22nd & Sun., May 23rd 10am-6pm for autograph signing with www.fireworkscanada.net JIMMY MANN N SHOP ON LINE 1252 SPEERS RD, UNIT # 11. OAKVILLE Located in the same units as Dietrichs Oakville Barbecues. QEW THIRD LINE SPEERS RD FOURTH LINE We offer after/hours services for those putting together street and block parties. 905-465-9997