Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
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Al Pipeline for Advancing Healthcare Data Interoperability
No full textRoughly 80% Of health outcomes are influenced by non-medical factors — including social and behavioral determinants such as housing, income, food access, and community support. Yet, these critical drivers of patient well-being often go unmeasured, unstructured, or overlooked, especially in resource-constrained healthcare settings. This project proposes an approach to synthesizing diverse data inputs in order to generate meaningful insights that can enhance care delivery, improve organizational sustainability, and align incentives across stakeholders. The initiative enables stronger data interoperability throughout the healthcare system while ensuring each of the various data providers maintain privacy and IP. In doing so, it lays the foundation for a powerful ecosystem connecting hospitals, insurance companies and Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), and community-based organizations (CBOs). The development process involved the creation Of multiple prototypes and Al -driven data pipelines. Financial advancement Of the project w•as primarily supported through the drafting and submission Of the NIH R43 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant. Furthermore, the project was presented to to various institutions — including hospitals, community-based organizations, and healthcare networks — to secure pilot support, as well as investment firms to explore funding opportunities for future scaling
AR Imaging for Applications
No full textMy project aims to develop an augmented reality (AR) application using Android Studio to animate murals across the city of Aurora. We plan to remodel the way people interact with static public art pieces by turning them into interactive digital experiences. This project, commissioned by APS Data Technologies through a city contract with the City of Aurora, used augmented reality imaging to overlay animations onto existing murals, improving engagement and overall boosting accessibility to art. The development process involved a significant amount of research into AR technology, user interface design and GUI, and backend integration to ensure users have a seamless experience. The contributions through this internship project were mainly among the technical aspects, as we worked on the code required to optimize the application\u27s performance during real-time user interactions
Trends in Student Affairs
Get PDFTrends Shaping Student Affairs Get sped up on key trends in technology, student needs, campus life, and wellness, backed by research and real-world data
Breakfast of Champions: STEAM in Action
Get PDFTeach your students the fun of STEAM while encouraging them to become future entrepreneurs. Students will learn to develop a cereal - create the cereal box (all 6 sides), market the cereal, price the cereal, and make a 3D model of the cereal from recyclable materials. Students learn how viewpoints can affect consumer costs. They also learn the idea of working for a company challenge as this is a competition based project. Educators will learn to incorporate all subjects (Science, Math, Art, Social Studies, Engineering, and Technology) into this project. Educators will also learn how to involve the whole school in choosing the winner
AI Tools for Intelligent Teaching and Learning
Get PDFDiscover the power of free AI tools designed to enhance teaching and learning! In this interactive session, we will explore tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Khanmigo, setting up access and experimenting with their features. While the session will showcase examples in math instruction, educators are encouraged to test these tools across various subjects such as science, English, and history. This workshop empowers teachers to integrate cutting-edge AI tools into their classrooms, fostering creativity, efficiency, and engagement
Validation of Doubly Charged Higgs Boson Monte Carlo for Two-Lepton Channels
No full textTo investigate theories beyond the Standard Model, Monte Carlo simulations are utilized to model particle collisions and glean valuable information to inform searches for exotic particles. In our search for the doubly charged Higgs Boson, we seek to validate the accuracy of our Monte Carlo simulations with this study. Specifically, events with two leptons are analyzed in-depth, serving as a control region due to the minimal signal. The current plots demonstrate the robustness of the Monte Carlo simulations with a strong agreement in the background shapes overall. Additionally, the study reveals areas for improvement such as the event scaling and normalization and ensures the search for the doubly charged Higgs Boson proceeds successfully
Modeling Geometries of Anastomosis Surgeries
No full textAnastomosis is a medical procedure involving the attachment of two channels, often between blood vessels or two loops of the intestine, as treatment for blocked channels or diseased tissues. When attaching channels, specific points require an incision and deformation of the tissue, which forms conical structures. Due to the resultant structures, localized stress points form. These stress points can lead to tissue damage and the need for more surgical intervention. We use ABAQUS, a computational software, to employ finite element analysis to model different conical structures that form due to surgical geometries. By modeling materials as cylinders and utilizing thermal expansion to create a wedge of growing excess angle, we can characterize the resultant conical structures. This project compares experimentally validated conical structures on flat planes to more complex resultant structures on cylindrical channels to apply to surgeries. The project aims to determine where and how conical structures and stress localizations form in cylindrical materials
Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for Infection Surveillance in a Residential High School
No full textWastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a technique used to assess the health of a population by analyzing the relative concentrations of certain substances within wastewater. The COVID-19 pandemic heightened interest in WBE as a cost-effective, anonymous, and accessible tool for tracking community-wide trends of respiratory viruses such as Influenza A & B and RSV. However, questions remain about its applicability to other pathogens with transmission patterns.
This study established a wastewater monitoring system at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), a residential high school with 650 students. Due to the close living and eating conditions, respiratory infections spread rapidly, making IMSA an ideal setting to assess WBE’s effectiveness for infection surveillance without individualized sampling. The campus consists of seven residential halls and one main academic building, allowing for targeted wastewater analysis.
Over the 2024-2025 academic year, we used passive sampling devices to collect untreated wastewater weekly from manholes, extracting nucleic acids, and quantifying COVID-19, Flu A/B, RSV, Norovirus I/II, Adenovirus, and common Coronaviruses via PCR. Samples are banked for future retrospective studies. In this project, we will present a descriptive analysis of our findings, their implications for infection control, and our plans for expanding the study in future years
Effect of Kv11.1 Potassium Ion Channel Activator NS1643 on the Metastatic Potential of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells
No full textTriple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype characterized by high metastatic potential and limited treatment options. Previous research done in the Minshall Lab suggests that the Kv11.1 K⁺ channel activator NS1643 reduces TNBC metastasis in part by enhancing β-catenin interaction with desmosomal proteins, thereby strengthening cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion. Building on these findings, we investigated the impact of NS1643 on TNBC cell motility by tracking cellular movement at varying concentrations (5 μM, 10 μM, 25 μM, and 50 μM). Using live-cell imaging and computational analysis, we observed a dose- dependent decrease in cellular velocity. At 50 μM NS1643, TNBC cells exhibited minimal motility, suggesting a significant reduction in metastatic potential. This aligns with our prior findings that NS1643 promotes the formation of desmosomes/hemidesmosomes, reinforcing intercellular adhesion. These results highlight the potential of NS1643 as an anti-metastatic agent by both enhancing cellular adhesion and reducing migration. Further studies will explore the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, particularly its impact on cytoskeletal dynamics and signaling pathways. Thus, this study is beginning to reveal a potentially promising pharmacological mechanism for inhibiting breast cancer metastasis by increasing desmosome adhesions
Co-targeting CDK4 and MDM2 in Liposarcoma using Novel Dual-Target Inhibitors
No full textLiposarcoma, a malignant soft tissue sarcoma, is frequently characterized by MDM2 amplification and CDK4 overexpression, making these proteins attractive therapeutic targets. Current treatments utilize MDM2 or CDK4 inhibitors seperately, but face challenges such as resistance and limited efficacy. This study evaluates the therapeutic potential of novel dual- target inhibitors that simultaneously suppress MDM2 and CDK4 in an in vitro liposarcoma model. Cytotoxicity and dose-response experiments are performed to determine IC50 values, assess cell viability, and establish optimal therapeutic concentrations. The novel compounds are directly compared to FDA-approved monotherapies, abemaciclib and idasanutlin, that selectively inhibit MDM2 or CDK4, both individually and in combination. Proteomics and transcriptional profiling are then used to investigate the further effects of each treatment on the cell progression and downstream effects of apoptosis. By comparing the efficacy of dual inhibition to conventional monotherapies, this study aims to determine whether co-targeting MDM2 and CDK4 offers a more effective therapeutic approach. These findings may provide insights into the development of improved treatment strategies for liposarcoma and other cancers driven by MDM2 and CDK4 dysregulation