VASJ junior Chad Porter spends summer researching cancer at Case Western Reserve University

Researching cancer is not something many high school students will be able to say they did while on summer break. But VASJ student Chad Porter ’17 is unlike many students.

At the end of his sophomore year at VASJ, he already had big goals for himself after graduation. Those plans include studying biomedical engineering and ultimately attending medical school.

When his mom brought to his attention an opportunity to spend his summer conducting biomedical research alongside faculty and staff at Case Western Reserve University, he knew it was something he couldn’t pass up.

“I am interested in science and wanted to get a better idea of the biomedical field,” Chad says.

So he spent his summer participating in the Scientific Enrichment and Opportunity program  sponsored by the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Center for Science, Health and Society.

 
VASJ junior Chad Porter poses with his research mentor, Hua Fang, Ph.D., during the
Scientific Enrichment and Opportunity program at Case Western Reserve University. 

During the program, he conducted research in the laboratory, met with researchers and clinicians, and presented a research poster and abstract to faculty, staff, and students.

“It was interesting being in a lab and working with an actual researcher,” Chad says.

And they were doing really important research.

Chad, alongside Hua Fang, Ph.D., and Stanton Gerson, MD, in the Department of Hematology and Oncology, spent his summer studying an artificial protein designed to damage cancer cells.

Read Chad’s research abstract here.

“I learned a lot about cancer,  how to extract different materials from cells, and how to kill cells by damaging their DNA.”

It wasn’t just Chad’s mom who saw the value in this opportunity. His teachers at VASJ helped him finish his finals early so he could start the program on time at the beginning of June.

But Chad says his teachers at VASJ did more than just encourage him to take advantage of the opportunity. It was a result of his VASJ education that Chad felt academically prepared and entered the program with an understanding of the complex organic chemistry and biology.

“I could catch on more easily to subjects my mentor would try to explain because I already knew the basics taught to me by my teachers,” Chad says.

The opportunity to research cancer and build connections in the biomedical field before even beginning his junior year in high school is extremely exciting for Chad. But the most rewarding part was seeing his hard work come to fruition and knowing that this research could help save lives.

“The best part was seeing my experiment actually work out the way my mentor, Hua Fung, and I thought it would work.”