Academy of Sciences
Applications are closed for the 2024 Summer Internship at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. Look for the 2025 application in February of that year.
2024 University Science and Engineering Fair: (back) Dylan Peterson, Owen Kotter, Leon Yamada, Liliana Swanson, Jackson Stolz, Hobie Hodlmair, Aidan Mulligan. (middle) Phoung Anh Bui, Sarah Azar, Grayson Gagnon, Arianna Vazquez, Emma Martin, Linnea Evans, Marissa Caruso, Jenny Dipoma. (front) Kira Schmelter, Emily Conway, Dani Medellin, Jenna Fang, Allie McLennon, Christopher Madden, Callie Fairbanks, Christiana Cortes
The Juan Diego Catholic High School Academy of Sciences is a specialized program of coursework within the JDCHS curriculum focused on developing students' skills in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Students who complete the Academy of Sciences requirements receive recognition at the Academic Awards Ceremony at the end of the year, and receive an Academy of Sciences designation on their JDCHS transcript. The designation indicates for colleges that the student has done exemplary and extensive work in STEM fields during their time at JDCHS. Since its founding in 2012, the Academy of Sciences students have published 14 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Academy of Sciences students have advanced to the International Science and Engineering Fair 3 times, have been accepted to top Universities, and have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship money.
2024 Academy Honors Celebrate, Academy of Sciences students with Dr. Celestino: (L to R) Yesue, AJ, Aidan, Erin, Sarah, Marissa, Linnea, Jenna, Allie, Emily, Kira, Phoung Anh, Christopher, Grayson, Liliana, Megan, Jack, Sarah, Hobie, Olivia, Dylan.
Requirements :
Courses: Students must take at least three AP-level courses in the STEM fields. These courses may be a combination of Science, Mathematics, and Technology. JDCHS currently offers 7 AP Science courses, 3 AP Mathematics courses, and 2 AP Technology courses.
Service and Extracurricular Activities: Students must demonstrate interest and commitment to science outside of the classroom. The JD Science department provides monthly Academy of Sciences activities, such as judging elementary science fairs, attending community science events, or engaging with school STEM clubs.
Independent Research: Students must complete a professional research project and present their research at a recognized science competition such as the Intel Science and Engineering Fairs, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, Google Fair, or Siemens Competition.
Student Publications (in descending chronological order):
Mulligan, A. J., & Browning, M. E. (2024). Quality assessment and characterization of unregulated antiviral drugs for feline infectious peritonitis: implications for treatment, safety, and efficacy. American Journal of Veterinary Research (published online ahead of print 2024), https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/ajvr/aop/ajvr.23.10.0221/ajvr.23.10.0221.xml?tab_body=fulltext
Collard, R., Aziz, M., Rapp, K., Cutshall, C., Evalien Duyvesteyn, E., Metcalf, C. (2022) Galanin Analogs Prevent Seizure-Induced Respiratory Arrest. bioRxiv 2022.03.21.485198; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.21.485198 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.21.485198v1
Lim, K., Macazo, F.C., Scholes, C., Chen, H., Sumampong, K., and Minteer, S.D. (2020) Elucidating the Mechanism behind the Bionanomanufacturing of Gold Nanoparticles using, Bacillus subtilis. ACS Appl. Bio. Mater. 3(6) 3859-3867 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsabm.0c00420
Lu, P., Redd Bowman, K.E., Brown, S.M. Joklik-Mcleod, M., Vander Mause, E.R., Nguyen, H.T.N., and Lim, C.S. (2019) p53-Bad: A Novel Tumor Suppressor/Proapoptotic Factor Hybrid Directed to the Mitochondria for Ovarian Cancer Gene Therapy. Molecular Pharmaceutics 2019 16 (8), 3386-3398 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.9b00136
Afra, P., Bruggers, C.S., Sweney, M., Fagatele, L., Alavi, F., Greenwald, M., Huntsman, M., Nguyen, K., Jones, J.K., Shantz, D., Bulaj, G. (2018) Mobile Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) for the Treatment of Epilepsy: Development of Digital Therapeutics Comprising Behavioral and Music-Based Intervenetions, for Neurological Disorders. Frontiers in Human Neurosci. 12: 171.
Bruggers, C.S., Baranowski, S., Beseris, M., Leonard, R., Long, D., Schulte, E., Shorter, A., Stigner, R., Mason, C.C., Bedrov, A., Pascual, I., and Bulaj, G. (2018) A Prototype Exercise-Empowerment Mobile Video Game for Children with Cancer, and its Usability Assessment: Developing Digital Empowerment Interventions for Pediatric Diseases. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 6(69):1-18. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2018.00069/full
Fleming, A.M., Ding, Y., Rogers, R.A., Zhu, J., Burton, A., Carlisle, C., Burrows, C.J. (2017). 4n-1 is a “Sweet Spot” in DNA i-Motif Folding of 2’-Deoxycytidine Homopolymers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139: 4682-4689. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b10117
Schriewer, K., Bulaj, G. (2016) Music Streaming Services as Adjunct Therapies for Depression, Anxiety, and Bipolar Symptoms: Convergence of Digital Technologies, Mobile Apps, Emotions, and Global Mental Health. Front. Public Health 4:217 http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2016.00217/full
Boyer, J., Garzella, J.J., and Vasquez, F.G. (2015) On the solvability of the discrete conductivity and Schrodinger inverse problems. Cornell University Library http://arxiv.org/abs/1510.02848 submitted for publication.
Howder, C., Long, B., Gerlich, D., Alley, R., and Anderson, S. (2015) Single Nanoparticle Mass Spectrometry as a High Temperature Kinetics Tool: Sublimation, Oxidation, and Emission Spectra of Hot Carbon Nanoparticles. J Phys. Chem. A 119(50):12538-12550. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpca.5b08499
Hubbard, D., Enda, M., Bond, T., Moghaddam, S., Conarton, J., Scaife, C., Volckmann, E., Ghandehari, H. (2015) Transepithelial Transport of PAMAM Dendrimers Across Isolated Human Intestinal Tissue. Molecular Pharmaceutics 12(11):4099-4107. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.5b00541
Howder, C.R., Long, B.A., Bell, D.M., Furukawa, K.H., Johnson, R.C.Fang, Z, and Anderson, S.L. (2014) Photoluminescence of charged CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots in Gas Phase: Effects of Change and Heating on Absorption and Emission Probabilities. ACS Nano 8(12):12534-12578. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn505374d
Umpierre, A., Remigo, G., Dahle, E., Bradford, K., Alex, A., Smith, M., West, P., White, S., and Wilcox, K. (2014). Impaired cognitive ability and anxiety-like behavior following acute seizures in the Theiler's virus model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurobiology of Disease 64:98-106. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996114000023
Constance, J.E., Despres, S.D., Nishida, A., Lim, and C.S. (2012) Selective targeting of c-Able via a cryptic mitochondrial targeting signal activated by cellular redox status in leukemic and breast cancer cells. Pharmaceutical Research 29(8):2317-2328. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11095-012-0758-9
Dixon, A., Pendley, S., Bruno, B., Woessner, D., Shimpi, A., Cheatham, T., and Lim, C. (2011). Disruption of Bcr-Abl Coiled Coil Oligomerization by Design. J. Biol. Chem. 286:27751-27760. http://www.jbc.org/content/286/31/27751.long
Weems, J., Cutler, N., Moore, C., Nichols, W., Martin, D., Makin, E., Lamp, J., and Yost, G. (2009). 3-Methylindole is Mutagenic and a Possible Pulmonary Carcinogen. Toxicol. Sci. 112(1):59-67. http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=19700606
Academy News!
March 8, 2024
This year, we had a record number of Juan Diego students participating in both the Diocesan Science and Engineering fair and the University of Utah Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The U of U fair collects winners and high scorers from 7 district fairs for three days of competition, the winners of which go on to both National and International competitions. This year, many of our 23 student scientists came to the fair through our AP Research program, thanks to Felix Vazquez. Please congratulate the following students on their achievements when you see them:
Advanced from the Diocesan fair to the U of U fair, but did not win: Leon Yamada, Jackson Stolz, Kira Schmelter, Dylan Peterson (Diocesan fair third place), Dani Medellin, Allie McLennan, Christopher Madden, Owen Kotter, Callie Fairbanks, Linnea Evans (Diocesan Fair second place), Marissa Caruso, Christiana Cortes, Phoung Anh Bui, and Sarah Azar
And our UofU Fair award winners:
Jenna Fang: 4th place Behavioral/Social Sciences category
Emily Conway: 3rd place Medicine/Health/Biomedical category
Lilianna Swanson: 3rd place Behavioral/Social Sciences category
Jenny Dipoma: Society for In Vitro Biology Special Award and 4th place in the Chemistry/Biochemistry category.
Emma Martin: USAID Special Award
Aidan Mulligan: US Metric Association Special Award
Grayson Gagnon: Director's Award (and Diocesan Fair first place)
Hobie Hodlmair: 1st place Civil/Environmental Engineering category and a $2,000 scholarship to the University of Utah
And a HUGE Congratulations to Arianna Vazquez, who won 1st place in the Earth/Environmental Sciences category, a $2,000 Scholarship to the University of Utah, the Association for Women Geoscientists special award, AND was chosen to advance to the National GENIUS Olympiad competition, taking place in New York State this June!
March 17, 2023
This week, 16 of our Academy of Sciences students competed at the regional University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair, which is a qualifying fair for the national and international competitions. Our students did amazing work. Of special note, Alea Pindat-Kahele is now the first JD student to ever advance to the national GENIUS Olympiad competition. Wow! Please congratulate the following award winners and participants:
Taylor Apgar: 2nd place Biology and Microbiology Division
Yesue Carter: Society for In vitro Biology Award
Natalia Cyriac: ACCESS Scholarship Nomination, National Association for Women Geoscientists Award, Stockholm Junior Water Prize, Salt Lake Chapter Women Geoscientists Award
Jacob Galang: 2nd place Chemistry and Biochemistry Division
Andrew (AJ) LeFort: 3rd place Chemistry and Biochemistry Division
Weijun (Wayne) Liang: 2nd place Chemical and Physical Energy Division, United States Air Force Award
Alea Pindat-Kahele: 2nd place, Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, ACCESS Scholarship Nomination, Red Butte Garden Excellence in Plant Science Award, GENIUS Olympiad Finalist
Megan Selmer: U of U Health Division of Infectious Disease Award, 4th place Chemistry and Biochemistry Division
Skyla Ulrick: ACCESS Scholarship Nomination
Sarah WIlkins: Office of Naval Research Award, 2nd place Behavioral and Social Sciences Division
Also competing at the fair: Erin Chen, Aidan Mulligan (who won third place overall at the diocesan fair), Xuanyu (Eric) Wu, Zachary Meehan, Olivia Young, and Jack Bulf
March 11, 2022
Eleven Juan Diego Academy of Sciences students competed at the University Of Utah Science and Engineering Fair this week, having advanced to the regional fair from the diocesan science and engineering fair last month. These students worked through challenging conditions to complete complex scientific research projects at the University of Utah over the past year through our internship program with the U of U College of Pharmacy. Please congratulate the following students for their excellent work and their awards.
Aymeric Blaizot: XMission Special Award
Emma Baker University of Utah Access Scholarship Director’s Invitation and College of Science Nomination, 3rd place Chemistry and Biochemistry
Nathaniel Bean 2nd place Chemistry and Biochemistry
Bea Pascual Journal of Young Investigators Best Abstract Award; 2nd place Diocesan Science and Engineering Fair
Corinne Simao 2nd place Behavioral and Social Sciences
Haley Welker University of Utah Access Scholarship Director’s Invitation and College of Science Nomination
Connor Cutshall and Thomas Varghese (Team project), 3rd place Diocesan Science and Engineering Fair
Also competing this year were: Weiye David Chen, Jayce Clarke, Mark Stevens
Congratulations to all!
March 17, 2021
Please congratulate the following students who won awards at the University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair this year. This year, the competition was completely online, which posed an extra challenge for student presenters. These students' perseverance to both complete their projects and compete in the fair under pandemic conditions is remarkable!
Emma Baker - 3rd place Behavioral and Social Science Division
Aymeric Blaizot - 1st place Chemistry and Biochemistry Division; U of U College of Science Scholarship recipient; (also won 2nd place at the Diocesan Fair)
Connor Cutshall - 4th place Computer Science & Applied Computational Methods Division; US Office of Naval Research Award
Emilie Etchart - 2nd place Medicine, Health Sciences & Biomedical Engineering Division; US Office of Naval Research Award; (also won 1st place at Diocesan Fair)
Evan Lee - 4th place Medicine, Health Sciences & Biomedical Engineering Division
Tynli Moore and Jasmine Aguilar - 3rd place Chemistry and Biochemistry Division
Irvine Nelson - 3rd place Biology and Microbiology Division; Society for In Vitro Biology Award
Mark Stevens - 4th place Behavioral and Social Science Division
Thomas Varghese - 2nd place Chemistry and Biochemistry Division; (also won 3rd place at the Diocesan Fair)
Danaya Pam Amornnimit - Regional fair participant, Behavioral and Social Sciences category
March 12, 2020
This year's regional science fair at the University of Utah was like no other. Due to the viral pandemic, the competition was postponed for grades 6-8 resulting in a much smaller fair than usual, with only high school students in attendance. Also, in order to comply with social distancing recommendations, the awards ceremony was canceled and awards were instead announced informally at the end of judging. Please give the following award winners the fanfare that they deserve and did not get due to the changes in the fair this year.
Eliana Moreno won the American Heart Association Special Award
Maya Sherrell and Gabe Veltri won the United States Metric Association Special Award
Evalien Duyvesteyn won 3rd place in the Medicine and Health Sciences category
Henry Brunisholz won 2nd place in the Behavioral Sciences category
Thomas Barbera won 2nd place in the Biology and Biochemistry category
Isabella Bertagnolli won 1st place in the Computer Science category, the Director's Award, and the Innovation Award
Keegan Gilbert won 1st place in the Medicine and Health Sciences category AND.....Keegan was named a GRAND PRIZE WINNER! This means that Keegan was one of six fair winners who will receive a scholarship to Westminster College. Keegan will represent the State of Utah at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Anaheim California! So exciting!
In addition to the above-named winners, please congratulate Preston Bath, Michael Clay, Dorothy Czyryca, Samantha Griffis, Samantha Lengerich, Elise Perry, Chitra Satyanarayan, Vivian Schuman, Kirsten Sumampong, and Kai Watts on a great job. All students are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship to Westminster College.
March 15, 2019:
While most of JD was relaxing and enjoying the spring break, 17 dedicated Academy of Sciences students spent all or part of three days at the University of Utah for the Regional Science and Engineering Fair. It was a very competitive year, and we had a big group, but our students had a fantastic showing. Here are the results:
Madeline Joklik-McLeod WON! Against 721 projects, Maddie was chosen along with 5 other students to represent the State of Utah at the International Science and Engineering Fair this spring! This is a HUGE accomplishment. The International Fair takes place the second week of May in Phoenix, AZ and is attended by students from 70+ countries around the world. Millions of dollars in prizes and scholarships are distributed. Along with her overall win, Maddie was also awarded 1st place in the Biology and Biochemistry category and an $80,000 scholarship to Westminster College. Congratulations, Maddie!
Additional Awards went to the following students:
Ryan Williamson won the STEM Action Center Award as well as 1st place in the Chemistry category
Paige Cameron won the American Psychological Association Award as well as 4th place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category.
Tyler Young won the Ricoh Americas Corporation Award as well as 4th place in the Earth and Environmental Sciences category.
Thomas Barbera won the InVitro Biology Award.
Breanna Quigley won the XMission Award
Ethan Lamé won 2nd place in the Chemistry category
Elizabeth Raven won 2nd place in the Chemical and Physical Engineering category
Erin Garzella won 4th place in the Materials and Biomedical Engineering category
Jack Marshall, Natalie Morgan, Noah Reninger, Kristi Deffner, Jeannette Dimpel, Evalien Duyvesteyn, Courtney Strydom, Dylan Strydom, and all of the above-listed winners all receive a $4,000 scholarship to Westminster College.
Congratulations to all!
March 22, 2018:
Congratulations to this year's Regional Science Fair Winners!
Ayden Carbaugh: 4th place Chemistry Division; $1,000 Scholarship
Kyllie Furukawa: 3rd place Engineering: Materials & Biomedical Division, In Vitro Biology Award; US Navy Award;$1,000 Scholarship
Joe Galang: 2nd place Chemistry Division; $1,000 Scholarship
Cynthia Gardner: $1,000 Scholarship
Cade Novara: 4th place Medical and Health Sciences Division; $1,000 Scholarship
Ian Pascual: $1,000 Scholarship
Also, congratulations to Abigail Whittington for being invited to present her research at the Intermountain Science and Humanities Symposium in Montana.
March 24, 2017:
Regional Science Fair Results:
Elainna Ng won the United States Navy Special Award for scientific excellence, and won 2nd place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences division.
Rori Phibbs won the Neuroscience Initiative Special Award
Darshan Shimpi won the In Vitro Biology Special Award
Jonathan Waung won 1st place in the Chemistry division
Jessie Zhu won 3rd place in the Medicine and Health Sciences Division
Georgia Alley, Nash Elder, Jose Galang, Emily Graham, Serena Hawatmeh, Elainna Ng, Rori Phibbs, Karl Schriewer, Darshan Shimpi Valerie Sokolow Matthew Tsortanidis, Jonathan Waung, and Jessie Zhu each received a $1,000 scholarship.
September 30, 2016:
Congratulations to Karl Schriewer on his publication today!
March 18, 2016:
Regional Science Fair Results:
Cedar Hoover, Alannah Clay, Michelle Gonciarz, Phelan Hobbs, Katie Whittington, August Waung, and Colin Helgeson, each received a scholarship to Westminster College.
Rex Alley won 2nd Place in the Chemistry Division and a scholarship to Westminster
Alex Perry was the Winner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize and a scholarship to Westminster
Connor Carlisle won 3rd Place in the Chemistry Division and scholarship to Westminster
Michael Greenwald won 3rd Place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Division and a scholarship to Westminster
JJ Garzella was the Winner of the Mu Alpha Pheta Award, as well as 3rd Place in the Physics, Astronomy and Math Division, and he receives a scholarship to Westminster
And finally, Alexander George-Kennedy won the NASA Earth Systems Award, 2nd place in the Physics Astronomy and Math division, AND he won advancement to the International Intel Science and Engineering Fair in May! There, he will compete against over 1,000 students from over 75 countries.
October 29, 2015:
Congratulations to senior Rex Alley (Class of 2016) for his publication on nanoparticle mass spectrometry in the Journal of Physical Chemistry. The abstract can be read here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpca.5b08499
March 27, 2015:
A big congratulations to these amazing JDCHS students on their performance at the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair. A special thanks to our incredible science department instructors who inspire our students daily!
Alex George-Kennedy: GRAND PRIZE WINNER! Will be representing the State of Utah at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh next month! G-K also won SECOND place in the Computer Science category, the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award, and an $80,000 Scholarship to Westminster College.
Rex Alley: FIRST place Chemistry, Yale Science and Engineering Association Award, US Air Force Award, $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
Michael Enda: $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
David Fenton: SECOND place Microbiology, $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
Gabe Freeman: FIRST place Biochemistry, $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
Kevin Furukawa: $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
Connor Helgeson: Surgeon General Special Science Award, $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
AJ Toledo: THIRD place Biochemistry, $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
Amber Wolff: $1,000 scholarship to Westminster
March 21, 2014:
Congratulations to the following students on their Salt Lake Valley Regional Science and Engineering Fair results!
Connor Helgeson: First place winner in the Medicine and Health Sciences Division, Winner of the Surgeon General's Special ScienceAward, Winner of the In Vitro Science Award, and recipient of a $1000 Scholarship to Westminster
Erik Perez: First place winner in the Chemistry Division, and recipient of a $1000 Scholarship to Westminster.
Kate Bradford: Second place winner in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Division and recipient of a $1000 Scholarship to Westminster
Michael Enda: Recipient of a $1000 Scholarship to Westminster
Gabe Freeman: Recipient of a $1000 Scholarship to Westminster
January 28, 2014:
Congratulations to student Kate Bradford (Class of 2015) for her inclusion as an author on a paper published this month in the journal, Neurobiology of Disease! Kate's paper can be read here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996114000023
2013 News
March 22:
Eight JDCHS students competed at the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair. As always, our students represented JD excellently, with three of our students coming away with awards:
Chloé Bartlett, winner of the Surgeon General's Special Science Award
Elodie Gourgeon, third place winner in the Medicine and Health Sciences Division
Zachary Schonrock, third place winner in the Biochemistry Division.
Congratulations to all!
2012 News
March 30:
Three JDCHS students competed at this year's Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair, the first year JD participated in Intel science fair competition. All three came away with awards in their respective divisions:
Crystal Chau: 2nd Place in the Medicine and Healthcare Division
Katherine McIntire: 1st Place in the Chemistry Division
Adrian Shimpi: Winner of the Special Award in Biophysics and 2nd Place in the Microbiology Division