Dr. Joseph Freeman and postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Tracy Scott, participated this summer as mentors in the Liberty Science Center “Partners in Science” Program, an intensive eight-week summer science research program for highly motivated and intelligent high school students. Dr. Kristen Labazzo and Dr. Freeman were seeking ways to create summer research opportunities for high school students and selected Ms. Niharika (Neha) Boinpally, a rising senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, who was accepted into the Partners in Science Program.
In Dr. Freeman’s group which develops new implantable scaffolds for the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissue, Neha worked on optimizing the formulation of hydrogels in order to maximize their contractile properties. Regarding her experience, Neha said; “It was truly the highlight of my summer. The knowledge along with the experience that I've gained as a whole from my summer working at the lab is incredibly valuable to me.”