SABC 2009 Calgary Finals WINNERS

Annie Wang and Julie Xu of Sir Winston Churchill High School won the $2,000 first place prize with a study about “Co-culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Prevotella ssp. In Agar Spheres.” Dr. Mike Surette and Dr. Tyler Field, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary mentored this team, throughout their research. Annie and Julie were also this years recipients of a new $250 cash award for “Best Elevator Pitch”.
Representing Calgary, Annie and Julie will present their research at the National Competition before a panel of experts at the National Research Council in Ottawa, on May 6th.

2nd Place: Nicholas Moore, Annie Khan, and Janelle Yu representing Western Canada High School, won the $1,500 second place prize for a project that examined
“Upregulation of ?-integrin in tubular epithelial to-mesenchymal transition is mediated through the PI3-K-Akt-mTOR pathway”. The team’s mentor was Dr. Wenjie Wang from the Divisions of Nephrology and Transplantation, Department of Medicine, University of Calgary.

3rd Place: The third place prize of $1,000 was awarded to Raida Khwaja and Urvashi Pal from Western Canada High School. These students were mentored by Dr. Dave Hansen, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, who supported this team throughout their innovative project titled: “The Effect of Counteracting Chemicals in Red Bull – Taurine and Niacin – on the pharyngeal pumping of developing Caenorhabditis elegans.”

4th Place: $750 was awarded to Fiona Tran of Central Memorial High School for achieving fourth place. Fiona worked on a project entitled: “Polyinosinic Acid Contributes a Significant Role in the Rate of Eliminating Bacteria by Macophages” with the help of her mentor Dr. Robin Yates, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary. Fiona is the first recipient of a $250 award, newly introduced this year, for having the “Most Commercially Viable Project”.

5th Place: Fifth place prize of $500 was awarded to the team of Rachel Wang and Jenny Gao of William Aberhart High School. Dr. Francine Smith and Dr. Wei Qi Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, mentored Rachel and Jenny throughout their research titled “Age and Region Dependent Expression of Angiotesin II Type I and Type II Receptors in the Sheep Kidney.”

Congratulations to our Merit Award winners: Tracy Wang and Julia Kuo from Western Canada High School, mentored by Dr. Morley Hollenberg and to Sylvia Hao and Yunan Liu from Dr. E.P. Scarlet High School mentored by Dr. Jan van Minnen.