Pankaj Saha
Class of 2003-Present
Presently: University of Rochester
Manhattan Center for Science and Math
Topic 2006: Breast and Thyroid Cancer Detection Using Immunomagnetic Beads
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Poster (ppt)
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Flash animation (swf)
Topic 2005: Isolation, Detection, and Cellular & Molecular Characterization of Circulating Prostatic and Lung Tumor Cells
Research Paper: cover + table of contents, paper (pdf)
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About:
2005: My name is Pankaj K. Saha. I am currently a freshman student attending St. John's School of Liberal Arts and Science. My major at this university is Biology and my area interest, passion and research is in the detection of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer patients. I have been researching on my project for over three years now alongside Dr. Satyajit Bhattacharya, a highly professional researcher, also my mentor. He has taken me quite far in my steps. I have presented my research in several fairs and competitions throughout New York as well as in the American Chemical Society Expositions held in Philadelphia, Connecticut and Washington DC. I have received honorary mention from for a few competitions, one being the prestigious New York City Science and Engineering Fair.
From the start, I have seen this program drastically grow from a size of fifteen to over a hundred. This program has had a positive impact on my life and gave me a new outlook on how to approach life. I have gotten a great deal of education and knowledge from my mentor, as well as from other researchers within the lab. There were also three other students from different schools, one from a different state, in lab working with me. Working with them was a great experience because if one person did not understand something the others were there to help in a coherently manner to unravel the problem or the issue that was faced to us. In addition, we got to learn more from each other because our different cultural backgrounds.
Going to different conferences throughout the program in the summer was an additional amazement to me because I saw other students that were in program from other states, and their topics. The topics ranged from things dealing with microbiology to mechanics; this showed me how much there learn in life. We got opportunities to do public talking and improve our verbal speaking skills. Furthermore, we had gotten commentaries on how we could improve when going for a competition. Overall, this is an excellent program and all of the credit goes to Dr. Sat. I have enjoyed these three years with him and I'm sure that I will continue to. Thank You Dr. SAT!
2003: My name is Pankaj K. Saha. I am currently 15 years old and a junior attending Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. At the end of the school year of my sophomore year I had gotten startling news about ‘Harlem Children Society’ program from my Authentic Science Research (ASR). ASR is a three-year course, in which a student develops a topic on their interest, and studies it further with the aid of a mentor. In the first year the student is supposed to start off with a handful of topics, and as the year comes to an end the student must have a research proposal on their final topic of research, and should search for a possible mentor. In the second year the student is to further develop their knowledge of their topic by reading scientific journals, and to find a mentor. Throughout the year the student must work with the mentor, and also work in the summer of that year. In the third year the students are required to still continue their research, but also are required to go for competitions such as Intel.
At first my topic was on Alzheimer’s disease, a neurological disorder. It was very hard for me to find a mentor, so when I heard about the Harlem Children Society program I was very interested in it, because I was told I would have to research on cancer, and I already have some knowledge of cancer, because in my first year one of my original topics was cancer. The Harlem Children Society also offered a stipend, which was funded by a grant to Dr. Sat Bhattacharya by the American Chemical Society, and Harlem Children Society. This stipend could benefit me for my college education in the future. Knowing all this I definitely wanted to apply for this, and so I did. I was very anxious to find out if I had been accepted to research in the #1 cancer center in the world, Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Ahh! And finally the results came in, and I was so thrilled and eager to start researching because I was one to the few to be selected for this opportunity. Over the summer of 2003 I have been doing research on circulating tumor cells in cancer patients with melanoma and breast cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, with the aid if my mentor Dr. Satyajit Bhattacharya, a highly professional researcher. The time schedule was the school days of the week, for about seven hours each day. He has also arranged lectures from other highly professional researchers. I have gotten a great deal of education and knowledge from him, as well as the other researchers. There were also three other students from different schools in lab working with me. Working with them was a great experience because if one person didn’t understand something the others were there to help and besides that we got to learn more from each other, because of the diversity and cultural background. As the summer was coming to an end we were all getting ready for the EXPO at the John Jacob Javitz Center organized for the American Chemical Society’s Annual Meeting.
By presenting my research there I felt proud, and especially my parents because they felt that I have accomplished something in my life, even though this was the preliminary stage. Going there was another amazement because I saw other students that were in program from other states, and their topics. The topics ranged from things dealing with microbiology to mechanics; this showed me how much there learn in life. When I next went to meet my mentor Dr. Satyajit Bhattacharya, he was telling me that he would like to continue this during the school year, in after school hours. I was really interested in it, and I said, “Just let me know when!” So now I am currently continuing my research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering with my mentor for four days a week after school, and I also plan to continue this in the summer of my junior year, and during the school year of my senior year in high school. The other three students weren’t able to come because of certain problems, so I sometimes feel lonely, but hey! The learning and the lab work make it fun. If I was able to accomplish this much in just two months, I wonder what I can accomplish in another year and a half.