Triparna Ghosh-Choudhury has always been interested in scientific research. Although she was not yet born when her great grandmother lost a battle to breast cancer, she saw the effects it had on her family. It was then that she began studying about breast cancer.
Today the 17-year-old senior at Health Careers High School conducts research in the lab of Nandini Ghosh-Choudhury, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology at the Health Science Center. For almost five years, Triparna Ghosh-Choudhury has studied breast cancer. She currently studies the effects a fish oil diet has on mice injected with breast cancer cells and has won several first-place awards at science fairs on the local, state and national levels.
After winning third grand prize and becoming a Discovery Young Scientist semi-finalist while only in seventh grade, Ghosh-Choudhury took her research to the next level. She showed that breast tumor growth in mice on a fish oil diet was significantly slower than those not on a fish oil diet. This striking observation made her curious to find out the underlying mechanism. In the last three years, she demonstrated that fish oil diet not only reduced proliferation of the breast cancer cells, but also induced death of these cells.
“I want to study about breast cancer because my great grandmother died from it,” Ghosh-Choudhury said. “I know it’s hereditary, so if I can make even a small difference with my research, it may eventually help save lives.”
Ghosh-Choudhury always dreamed of being invited to the International Science Fair competition and never gave up trying. After six years of conducting research, Ghosh-Choudhury’s innovative results and valiant efforts earned her the prestigious opportunity to represent the United States at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix. Ghosh-Choudhury will present her research and have the opportunity to network with several distinguished individuals at the international fair May 7-14.
“This has been my goal since I was in eighth grade,” Ghosh-Choudhury said. “I am very proud to represent the U.S. in the international competition.”
She has also entered her excellent research in several other competitions, including the Siemens Westinghouse Science Competition, where she placed as a semi-finalist; and the Texas Junior Academy of Science, in which she placed first on the state level for the past three years and advanced to the national level.
Another of Ghosh-Choudhury’s recent awards is the EXPO 2005 Toyota Award. She was shocked when she learned she received the grand prize.
“I entered my research in the contest thinking I would probably never even hear anything back,” Ghosh-Choudhury said. “The next thing I knew I was invited to go to Japan!”
Ghosh-Choudhury doesn’t spend all her time in school or a research lab; she is a brilliant pianist and violinist, and an avid tennis player. One of her favorite hobbies is to take photographs and create scrapbooks.
“I love taking pictures of people and showing the photos to them,” Ghosh-Choudhury said. “I like to see my friends enjoy my photos.”
She also enjoys taking trips and watching movies with her family.
“All week I look forward to the weekend. I love to watch movies with my family and friends,” Ghosh-Choudhury said.
Ghosh-Choudhury is still deciding which college she would like to attend in the fall. Although several local universities have offered scholarships to Ghosh-Choudhury, she recently was accepted to The University of Texas at Austin. She hopes to decide soon where she will go. She plans to later attend medical school and says she will never give up her research.
