Spreading her "fins" at age 15:
Isha Jain studies Zebrafish growth with Lehigh's Kathy Iovine

It happened over a year ago. It happened because of a simple, multi-recipient e-mail.

Dear Colleague,
My daughter has an interest in genetics and would like to do some research. Can we come and meet with you? ...

Assistant Professor Kathy Iovine was one of the recipients of this seemingly simple request. But any professor will tell you that this is not as easy as it sounds. Working with young, non-college students takes a lot of time and energy. But something told Dr. Iovine that this was different.

Thus, an incredible educational relationship began between a university professor and a young high school student.

Isha Himani Jain was only 14 years old when her father, Professor Himanshu Jain (Materials Sciences and Engineering), e-mailed some of the professors in the Department of Biological Sciences to try to find someone who would work with Isha.

Assistant Professor Kathy Iovine and young researcher, Isha Jain

Oh, how far they have come. For over a year Ms. Jain and Dr. Iovine have been doing research together. Isha's journey began in Dr. Iovine's lab learning about how organs and limbs grow to their proper size with respect to the overall size of the individual. Her research culminated in the presentation entitled, "Cell Proliferation is Episodic and Pulsatile During Growth of Zebrafish," and won first place in zoology at the State/National competition of the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, which was held at the Delaware Valley Expo Center . Isha was one of two finalists from her grade to go on to the international competition, which was held May 6-13 in Indianapolis , where she was in the running for over a million dollars in scholarships.

Isha was one of over 1,400 students from 40 different countries exhibiting their projects. We are proud to report that Isha did indeed win some prizes. They include:

• Endocrine Society (Honorable Mention)
• Intel Corporation (4 th place, Zoology; $500 award)
• U.S. Air Force (2 nd place, Zoology; $1,500 award)
• Cook Company ($2,000 award and a $5,000 summer internship opportunity)

Besides her passion for research, Isha's "spare" time is filled with playing soccer and studying classical/modern Indian dancing. At Freedom High School , Isha is a member of the student council, the debate team, ski club, the Superintendent's Student Advisory Committee, and the American Regional Math League.

What's in Isha's future? Well, she will continue her high school studies at Freedom High School in Bethlehem , where she is completing her sophomore year. She and Dr. Iovine are continuing their research which will follow cell proliferation in long fin and short fin mutants. "After learning so much about this field from Prof. Iovine and the project, I would like to eventually become a geneticist or a biomathematician."

What does Isha have to say about her accomplishments in research? "Of course, I have to say that a lot of the credit goes to Prof. Iovine - for all the advice, instruction, support and encouragement."

What a remarkable young lady!

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