Poly Research Initiative Students Present at Caltech and Publish for the NHGRI
The Poly Research Initiative (PRI) creates time and space for students to add value to the real world and, through that experience, demonstrate rigorous research skills. The program develops these skills for each student through hands-on projects that facilitate sustained inquiry and experimentation, productive failure and reflection, and writing and publication. Read on for exciting updates from the program.
Presentation at Caltech
Poly Research Initiative’s Senior Biological Research class recently presented data at Caltech that they had generated at Poly, empirically, for Caltech’s Karthikeyan lab. The data involved screening bacterial DNA samples from Caltech for antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) using protocols that students had to optimize for specificity and sensitivity of the ARG signal, including self-designing and testing some material components of the experiment. This data was then used to test the prediction accuracy of an AI-based prediction model for ARGs. The design, optimization and data generation took place over the entire academic year culminating with data presentation and a question and answer session at Caltech. The PRI thanks the Karthikeyan lab for this collaborative project.
Publications for the National Human Genome Research Institute
Fifteen students from the Poly Research Initiative’s Biological Research class published four research review articles in Genomics Insights, the National Human Genome Research Institute’s digital publication. As part of this process, over many months student groups choose a topic of interest related to biology and society, researched it using primary literature, analyzed it using research data, and wrote about it including feedback from professional researchers.
The student research articles are linked below:
Arjun S. ’27, Remick T. ’27, Santiago S. ’27, Tadeh K. ’27
Reviewer: MIT
Russell T. ’27, Caiden K. ’27, Joseph F. ’27
Reviewer: Johns Hopkins University
Qilan H. ’27, Naomi D. ’27, Shayla S. ’27. Alexandra T. ’27
Reviewer: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Brynn C. ’27, Justin R. ’27, Hudson P. ’27, Nicholas W. ‘27
Reviewer: University of Michigan
PRI Exhibition
In its fifth year, the PRI celebrated student work from its four spaces—Biological Research, Summer Research, Neuroscience & Humanities: Food and Senior Biological Research—at its second annual student exhibition on April 9 in the Upper School Black Box. Students showcased their work through presentations, gallery walks, and Q&A sessions to an audience of parents, faculty, administrators, and fellow students. View the Class of 2026 and 2027's reflections below.
For more information or if you’d like to share ideas about collaborating on professional research projects, please reach out to Dr. Selvakumar at bselvakumar@polytechnic.org
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