Bristol-Plymouth High School Senior Attends Harvard BioSTAR Program

TAUNTON — Superintendent Alexandre Magalhaes and Principal Karen Guenette are pleased to share that Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School senior Fabiana Gomes participated in the Harvard Bioengineering Science, Technology and Research (BioSTAR) program from July 8-12. 

BioSTAR, or the Bioengineering Science, Technology and Research Program, is an annual five-day summer program that invites students from the Greater Boston area to learn about bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Cambridge.

The program is a unique experience that offers 15 students an opportunity to work with technology, techniques and topics typically not covered in high school. Students were introduced to many areas of bioengineering, such as bio-fabrication and synthetic biology, with a specific focus on cancer biology and therapeutics. The students work over the course of multiple days to culture mammalian cancer cells in 3D environments, as well as generate drug-containing nanoparticles, using them to treat the cancer cells they cultured.

BioSTAR receives faculty sponsorship from Hiller Professor of Bioengineering Samir Mitragotri and is led by Active Learning Labs members Avery Normandin and Melissa Hancock. 

Bristol-Plymouth student Fabiana Gomes, who hopes to become a marine biologist, participated in a variety of lab techniques, such as genetically engineering E. coli via CRISPR-Cas9. She shared that working in the labs was a positive experience mainly due to its inclusivity, noting that everyone worked together and no one was left out of discoveries. 

At the end of the program, students presented their experimental results to family, friends and Harvard staff.

“I am beyond proud of Fabiana, who used her summer vacation to explore areas of interest for potential career opportunities,” Superintendent Magalhaes said. “I hope that the invaluable skills she was able to practice while at this laboratory program serve her well throughout the school year and beyond.”

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