On May 4-6 1999, Philadelphia hosted the 50th Annual International Science and Engineering Fair, the "World Series" of high school science fairs. The ISEF originated in this city in 1950, and recently attracted renewed attention for its recognition of student science research in secondary schools through the 1998 film, "October Sky". Presenting their work in more than 980 individual and team projects, over 1600 students from around the world competed for more than $2,000,000 in awards from academic, societal, governmental, and corporate sponsors.

Included among these sponsors were representatives of the American Physiological Society (APS), charged with the difficult task of selecting a First Place and three Honorable Mention Awards from among more than 80 projects which fell within the broad domain of contemporary physiology. Chairing the APS team was Education Committee member Andrew J. Lechner, Professor of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. He was joined by local APS members Steven P. Driska and James Heckman of the Department of Physiology at Temple University School of Medicine, Kevin J. Foskett from the Department of Physiology at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Leonard Rosenfeld of the Physiology Department at Thomas Jefferson University. Another APS member, Thomas M. Butler from Thomas Jefferson University, was a judge in the Grand Awards category underwritten by the major ISEF sponsor, Intel.

The APS judges narrowed a long list of potential winners to a dozen projects, whose authors were then interviewed at their posters in a setting very similar to that of an Experimental Biology meeting. Claiming the $500 First Place APS Award before a SRO crowd of nearly 5,000 was Nisha Nagarkatti, a 17-year old eleventh grader at Blacksburg High School in Blacksburg, VA, for her project, "Fas-Fas Ligand Interactions Play an Important Role in Successful Therapy of Cancer". Joining Ms. Nagarkatti on the awards podium for Honorable Mention APS Awards of $250 each were: 15-year old Galia H. Porat, a tenth grader at Cheltenham High School, Wyncote, PA ("The Nematode C. elegans as a Model for Investigating Multi-Drug Resistance to Cancer Chemotherapy"); Rishikesh P. Dalal, 17 and a junior at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee, KS ("Usefulness of Transplanted Hybrid Cells for Gene Therapy to Spinal Cord Motor Neurons"); and Ahmed S. Mousa, a 15-year old ninth grader at Avon Grove High School in West Grove, PA ("Garlic, Antioxidants, and Your Blood Vessels"). In addition to their certificates and cash awards, each of these students also received a free subscription to News in Physiological Science, and a variety of APS educational brochures that will also be sent to their sponsoring teachers for use in their classrooms. Rounding out the top ten projects as judged by the APS delegation were: John T. Rodriguez from Niceville Senior High in Niceville, FL; Connie Yueh-Lin Lo from the Arkansas School of Mathematics and Sciences in Hot Springs, AR; Songeeta Palchaudhuri from Ramapo Senior High School in Spring Valley, NY; Katherine Ann Brezina, who attends Coral Reef Senior High School in Miami, FL; Deepti Chauhan from Susan Wagner High School in Staten Island, NY; and Mark Ping Chao, a student at James Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, VA.

The APS judges were most impressed with the energy and resourcefulness shown by these students as each selected and completed their projects. Summarizing the sentiments of the five-member delegation, Dr. Lechner emphasized that the winners all demonstrated laudable independence and creativity, along with impressive scientific rigor during data collection and analysis. "These young men and women exuded genuine enthusiasm for their work while maintaining great poise, during an intensive interview process similar to what we hope our graduate students and postdocs experience in well-attended EB sessions", he added.

The 51st ISEF is scheduled for next Spring in Detroit. APS members wishing to volunteer to serve as local judges should contact Marsha Matyas (301)634-7132, email: mmatyas@the-aps.org at the APS Education Office.

Providing awards to high school students at the ISEF is only one of many ways in which APS supports pre-college science education. The APS supports pre-college science education from kindergarten through high school with programs designed to increase science teachers' content and pedagogical skills. Among the programs APS has for pre-college teachers are workshops and curricular materials for grade K-4 teachers through the "My Health, My World," program with Baylor University in Texas.

Grant-funded programs, such as the Frontiers in Physiology and Explorations in Biomedicine support middle and high school teachers working with APS researchers in their laboratories during the summer. Explorations is specifically designed for teachers in Montana who teach primarily Native American students. Frontiers, which is offered to teachers nationwide, also supports local workshops on physiology topics for middle and high school teachers.

For more information about APS Education Programs, email: educatio@aps.faseb.org
or visit our Web site at http://www.the-aps.org/education.htm