A Tie That Binds

The story of how one chemistry teacher— Michelle Hampton—at Riverside Unified School District’s (RUSD) Martin Luther King High School (MLK) reached out to faculty at UC Riverside with an idea of giving her chemistry students practical experience in a bona fide research lab exemplifies the old idiom: nothing ventured, nothing gained. But in this case it means much more. The synergy created between the two schools has resulted in scores of MLK students over the last decade and a half gaining lab experience and a love of research via summer internships at UCR, with many making the life sciences a career path.

Funny how one small step— a phone call— can sometimes lead to outcomes bigger than anyone anticipated.

The latest MLK students to “graduate” from the summer internship program initiated by Ms. Hampton so many years ago —Marie-Rose Osei (Rosie) and Claire Van Der Linden —worked as a team (more synergy) during the summer of 2023 and for about a year after in Professor Viji Santhakumar’s lab in the UCR Department of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology. Claire and Rosie graduated from MLK last spring.

In addition to the valuable experience both women gained in Prof. Santhakumar’s lab, Rosie and Claire went on to win gold medals for the research they conducted at UCR in the category of Cellular, Molecular, and Microbiology. The honors won at both the district and county levels came via the prestigious Science and Engineering Fair which is held annually at UC Riverside and is a competition developed for students in grades 4-12.

RUSD students at AES 2024 Annual Meeting
Claire Van Der Linden and Marie-Rose Osei (Rosie)

The women advanced to competition at the California State Science and Engineering Fair and although they did not win laurels there, Rosie and Claire continued their research at UCR and presented their findings at the American Epilepsy Conference in December 2024 on the topic Targeting Toll-Like Receptor 4 Signaling to Modulate Neurogenesis following Traumatic Brain Injury.

“Claire and Rosie showcase how research training works to get young people into the STEM fields,” says Prof. Santhakumar. “At the American Epilepsy Society Conference, the poster next to theirs was from none other than a former president of the American Epilepsy Society, and she was thrilled to see how well they did.”

“Queen” of King
When school let out for the summer this year, Ms. Hampton retired after more than 26 years of teaching, the last 17 at MLK instructing students in AP Chemistry and advising for the STEM Research Mentorship which is the internship liaison with UCR. Known across Riverside as the “Queen of Science Fair,” her teaching reflects an astonishing 99% pass rate with nearly a third of her students earning 5s on the historically difficult AP Chemistry exam.

“The opportunity that Ms. Hampton provided not only for me and Rosie but for all the students she’s guided into the UCR labs is genuinely the greatest thing I’ve been able to do in high school,” says Claire. “I’m honored to be part of the program and I credit it all to her. It truly was a world of Technicolor that she opened up for us that I wasn’t able to see before.”

According to Ms. Hampton the union that MLK and UCR eventually formed began about two decades ago when she taught at Arlington High School in Riverside. At that time Ms. Hampton was approached by a student who wanted to do a project on bioremediation of oil spills using bacteria as an agent. Science fair projects were mandatory back then as they are now for students enrolled in Honors Chemistry.

“My mom was a chemist at UCR,” Ms. Hampton says, “so I kind of grew up playing in her lab as a kid. I contacted Christopher Amrhein, Professor Emeritus of Soil & Environmental Sciences at UCR. That very first student actually worked in Dr. Amrhein’s lab, set up the project and visited the project over many, many months. She eventually entered state competition and the next year it just grew. In 2008 I came to MLK High School and it really exploded here.”

Ms. Hampton said the STEM Research Mentorship also became much more competitive. “Students were really looking more at their research than the science fair; more at long-term projects and really preparing themselves for research at the college level,” she says. “I would say in the last 10 years of the mentorship program has grown to about 40-45 students, all over at CNAS.”

The UCR Lab
As the title of their Riverside Science Fair entry noted, Claire and Rosie worked in Prof. Santhakumar’s UCR lab on neurogenesis (the generation of new brain cells) that follows traumatic injuries to the brain. In their research the MLK seniors were mentored and trained by post-doctoral fellows with Dr. Razieh Jaberi, in Prof. Santhakumar’s lab, taking the lead.

“We interned with post-docs who were simulating concussive brain injuries (in mice) and we evaluated the cause and effect on a certain part of the brain called the hippocampus which contributes to memory formation and processing sensory information and spatial awareness,” Claire says. “What Rosie and I did specifically was chemical analysis; something called immunohistochemistry which is lab technique that uses antibodies to detect specific antigens (proteins or other molecules) within cells and tissues.”

Rosie says that a fringe benefit of the lab work was that she and Claire got to observe and listen in on the post-docs reviewing papers. “At one point we even got to do our own research paper and present it to the post-docs,” she says. “They taught us those kinds of skills. We also got to work with postdoc Dr. Deepak Subramanian who taught us about seizures and brain injuries. With Razieh we learned specifically about neurogenesis and with Deepak we got to look at other aspects of brain injury and how they affect other normal processes.”

Research aside, Claire savored being able to present their findings at the American Epilepsy Society Conference. “Honestly, when Dr. Santhakumar told us we had a spot in the conference, at first I didn’t comprehend how big that was, but when it sunk it, it was amazing that Dr. Santhakumar helped us get a presentation spot at the conference.”

Claire says that her project with Rosie was the only high school project presented at the conference which included poster presentations from Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Duke — “Medical schools that are practically impossible to get into,” Claire says.” There was a researcher who developed the theory of neurogenesis who interviewed us and talked about it with us. I think being able to see how college presentations were different than how we were doing it in high school – the change in environment – was eye-opening.”

Adding to that, Claire says that relative to science fair competitions, teachers or community officials may have little knowledge about what an entrant’s project is about. “But when you’re talking to someone who’s a professional in the field, they know exactly what you mean,” she says. “Not only are they intrigued and listening to what you’re saying, but at the same time, they’re adding knowledge you didn’t know before.”

Summing Up
“I never felt more intellectually stimulated than I had in that lab, to be exposed to that level of academic research,” Rosie says. “We were also blessed to have Drs. Santhakumar, Subramanian and Jaberi and all the other post-docs in our lab as mentors because they are all so patient, amazing teachers, and super-smart talented researchers.”

Both Rosie and Claire concur that the UCR post-docs were unfailing in their willingness to take time out to guide them as well as provide the resources needed to comprehend the material and carry out the procedures. “It all made for a very enlightening experience,” Rosie says. “It also heightened both Claire and my interest in the sciences in a way that you just don’t get to be exposed to in high school. For instance, in high school, wet lab would be a situation where we pour chemicals together or observe how bugs live, things like that. But doing complex research in a real-world lab alongside post-docs who understand the research to the greatest extent possible was a one-of-a-kind experience and something that I’ll never forget. It was hands-on learning in its purest form.”

“Before we started the partnership with UCR, the mentorship program at MLK was often seen as just kids doing science fair projects,” says Ms. Hampton. “But a club that places students in internships, that’s different! I think the opportunities of the kind Claire and Rosie got in the lab, it can be life-changing for students that really take it to that level.”

Prof. Santhakumar adds: “You can be so impactful to students who aren’t necessarily registered at UCR, by making the university – its labs – available. It’s a huge boon for students outside the campus. I think we need this, especially in light of the current environment, to showcase the importance of a STEM pipeline.”

“These students often write to multiple labs multiple times and it’s very difficult to get a placement but when a teacher writes or steps in, I think it can lead to a transformative opportunity,” she continues. “I’m extremely glad Michelle took the time to reach out to us and advocate for Claire and Rosie.”

Rosie and Claire. MLK and UCR. Synergy personified.
 

Let us help you with your search