Over the summer some high school students decide take their talents to the stage or the field to become a star.  As a member of the STARS program, senior Pradeep Kandula did so in his own way.

“I was in a program called STARS, or Students and Teachers as Research Scientists at the University of Missouri Saint Louis [UMSL]…” Kandula said.

He had heard about this opportunity from a group of family friends and knew it would be the exposure he would need. “Right now I am planning to do something medically related,” he said.  “I applied because I was also interested in becoming a scientist and decided this would give me a great opportunity to see how science truly is.”

Finding out about the program and showing an initial interest was just step one for Kandula.

“I had to fill out an application by around March. I had to list activities, grades, test scores, recommendations and an essay. It was basically a college application. Then I received confirmation that I made it into the program around the beginning of May.”

It was not until after starting the program that Kandula realized how selective it really was. He, along with about 70 other students, was accepted out of 200 applicants.

During his six short weeks involved with the UMSL research program, he worked at the Washington University School of Medicine. Here Kandula was able to work side-by-side with a professor and lab supervisor while conducting collegiate level research and then write a concluding 15-page paper on his findings and present it to his peers.

“[My paper] was entitled ‘Employing P-glycoprotein recognition status as a criterion for predicting blood brain barrier permeability of heterocyclic molecules,’” Kandula said.

The paper’s topic and subject matter were not able to be discussed due to the lab regulations.

Kandula’s tongue-tying paper was recognized by LMI aerospace, an airplane parts manufacturing company and sponsor of the STARS program, as one of the best.

His recognition landed him the LMI Aerospace Award for Excellence in Research. “At the end of the program all of the students’ papers were submitted to the contest and around 30 of the 80 received the award,” Kandula said.

Kandula was not only awarded for his paper through this program. He feels as though he has gained much needed work experience as well.

“When applying to work as an assistant for a research lab, they commonly reject people because they have no prior work experience. Because of this program, when I apply to work in a research lab my freshman year of college I will be a much stronger candidate. It has also prepared me for collegiate level work.”

With this exposure to a college setting, Kandula is thinking about his future at Washington University. “I am considering it. The program gave me a great opportunity to experience Washington University’s amazing research facilities.”