Isabelle Balachandran
Isabelle Balachandran - Class of 2022
Summer of 2020
Isabelle Balachandran’s research took a step toward slowing metastatic — or stage 4 — cancers, the direst forms of the country’s second-largest cause of death.
Using sources such as the Human Protein Atlas and GeneCards Database, she sifted through data for 70 varieties of cancer looking for those with a high rate of a protein called KIF-19. Where KIF-19 was prevalent, she found, the patient survival rate was low. She identified 27 cancers where that was the case.
“This is a protein that, if we can target and silence it, would hopefully slow down the spread of metastatic cancer,” Balachandran said.
“I gained the experience to mine through databases and to think not only as a student but as someone who is in the science world.”
Summer of 2021
Many of the students involved in New Rochelle High School’s Science Research Program choose projects based on personal experience or inspiration. This was true for Isabelle “Izzy” Balachandran, whose grandmother suffers from multiple myeloma, a cancer caused by the accumulation of plasma cells in bone marrow.
Balachandran’s grandmother received anti-cancer treatments that were not very effective in long-term elimination of her cancer. This inspired Balachandran’s interest in oncology. She wants to help find a treatment that could stop the metastasis of cancer in hopes of helping other people who suffer from the disease.
Her research was an analysis of genes and pathways that correspond with a protein that helps spread metastatic cancer, Kif19, in hopes of creating an anticancer therapeutic drug using siRNA (small interfering RNA) strategies.
“My research explores alternative metastatic cancer therapeutics that are more disease- or cancer-specific as opposed to conventional chemotherapy and radiation treatments that are created for a wide range of different cancers,” said Balachandran.
She investigated a siRNA inhibition that stops the transcription of Kif19, which aids in the movement of materials throughout the cells. By inhibiting this protein, the idea is that the metastasis of cancer cells will slow down.
“My research resulted in support of my hypothesis, stating that when Kif19 is inhibited, there will be a decrease in cancer cell migration,” she said. The project has been a significant success for Balachandran. She obtained an internship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, published an article in a methodologies book and won numerous awards from science fairs, including presenting at Regeneron-ISEF, the prestigious International Science and Engineering Fair.
“My experience in this program helped shape my interests that I will explore after high school into college,” said Balachandran. “I have developed such a strong curiosity about cancer therapeutics, as well as great skills such as communication and problem-solving, that will certainly help prepare me for my future endeavors.”