Lafayette Student Wins First Place at Biotherapeutic Innovation Conference

Suchir Ryali, a senior at Lafayette High, earned first place in his division at the Institute for Drug and Biotherapeutic Innovation (IDBI) research symposium held Sept. 19 at Saint Louis University.

For nearly four years, Ryali has been conducting research in the SLU lab of biochemistry and molecular biology professor Dr. Robert Fleming, where Ryali has focused on iron homeostasis and its role in disease. This past summer, he worked on a project investigating how iron restriction affects sickle cell anemia. His role included managing mouse studies, measuring hematologic parameters such as red blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels and testing a new class of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents for their ability to improve blood health in sickled mice.

In July, Ryali also presented findings from this project, titled “Treatment with the prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, FG-4592, improves murine sickle cell disease,” at Johns Hopkins University’s Global Health Leaders Conference.

“What excites me most is being able to design experiments and watch the data reveal something new,” he said. “I know I still have a lot to learn but seeing how research can move us closer to preventing disease has been really inspiring."

Ryali hopes this work will eventually lead to clinical trials. He also hopes continue building on these experiences in college, drawing on his work in the Fleming Lab, his PLTW (Project Lead the Way) Biomedical Science coursework and his involvement with Lafayette’s Science Council.

Three other Lafayette High students – seniors Alastair Hanna and Kruthi Avula and junior Avyukth Raghuraman – also presented research at the IDBI symposium. Hanna and Avula participated in summer research opportunities at SLU as part of the Rockwood Partners in Education (PIE) summer internship program, which provides students with career exploration opportunities going into their senior year of high school, allowing them to gain practical, real-world experience in a field of interest by partnering with business professionals.

Avula and Raghuraman worked in the lab of Dr. Koyal Garg, associate professor of biomedical engineering, and helped present a research project titled “MyoGelix: A tunable hydrogel for volumetric muscle loss repair.”

Hanna worked in the lab of chemistry professor Dr. Marvin Meyers and helped present research titled “In Silico Investigation of XPB Helicase as a Drug Target in Cryptosporidium parvum.”

Hanna said most of his work over the summer dealt with computational chemistry, applying theoretical science to computer simulations to seek answers for the lab’s research questions. In this case, the main objective of the project was to test possible binding sites on an enzyme for a lab-optimized pharmaceutical candidate called SLU-2633 for treating the disease Cryptosporidiosis.

“It has helped me understand how drug discovery works as a whole. I got to see my side of things behind the screen but I also got to see how this would impact what we would do, what tests we’re looking at in the lab,” Hanna said. “Seeing how they actually make these compounds on the computer and do all these experiments theoretically but science-based at the same time was super cool.”

Hanna, whose mother is a chemist, said he is probably leaning toward studying organic or biochemistry beyond high school, and expanding his horizons into – and presenting research in – the field of computational chemistry will serve as a valuable experience for him.

“When you see the poster in front of you and have compiled all this research and are talking with other people about it, you’re like, ‘Wow, I actually understand this so much better than I thought I did,’” he said. “It was fun because you got to see how computational chemistry fits into the wider scope of things. It was cool to get an experience in someone else’s shoes and see how they’re part of the process.”

Hear from Avula and Raghuraman about their summer experience below:

What made you want to pursue this summer research opportunity?

• “I pursued this opportunity as part of the PIE program, because I’ve always been interested in hands-on lab research. When I was given the chance to intern in the Biomedical Engineering Department at SLU, I knew it would allow me to explore my interests in biotechnology and health care in an interactive way. I wanted to challenge myself to work in a real research environment under the mentorship of both the Principal Investigator, Dr. Koyal Garg, and many of the lab’s undergraduate students.”  - Avula  
• “This summer research opportunity was very captivating as it was centered on the topic of musculoskeletal disease, which is of great interest to me. I sent an email to Dr. Koyal Garg of the SLU Biomedical Engineering Department expressing my interest, and I was overjoyed when she invited me to intern at her lab this past summer. I was excited that the internship would allow me to conduct hands-on research in an institutional setting on biomedicine and was grateful for the mentorship of Dr. Garg and several Ph.D., graduate, and undergraduate students.” - Raghuraman

What lab were you in/what topic(s) were you researching?

• “We had the incredible opportunity of interning in Dr. Koyal Garg’s Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Lab, where we developed MyoGelix, a novel hydrogel designed to support muscle regeneration. Using the thermoresponsive component of Pluronic F-127 (PF) crosslinked with alginic acid, a structure enhancement integrant, we created and tested the novel hydrogel. Over the course of the internship, we explored its mechanical properties by conducting degradation and swelling studies, testing its potential for controlled drug release. The structural disparities of our gels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging.”

What was it like to present your research at the IDBI symposium?

• “Presenting at IDBI was both rewarding and exciting. It was my first experience communicating our research to an audience in a more professional context. This experience pushed us to think on the spot as judges asked about our project and ultimately gave me much more confidence in my ability to communicate as an aspiring researcher.” - Avula 
• “The opportunity to present at the IDBI symposium was stimulating and enriching. It was amazing to communicate about our project with the research community and receive great questions and feedback. My comprehensive understanding of our project allowed me to effectively articulate our scientific findings with clarity and confidence, which I aspire to do in the future as well.” - Raghuraman

​​​​​​​How do you hope to use this experience moving forward?

• “This experience strengthened my passion for biomedical research. Moving forward, I would like to continue exploring tissue engineering for musculoskeletal disease, as this experience showed me how innovative solutions in tissue engineering can directly impact patient care. I hope to build on this foundation and pursue further research opportunities to learn more about regenerative medicine as a whole. Because of the mentorship, collaboration and hands-on research I was given, this experience definitely served as a stepping stone for a career in biomedical engineering.”  - Avula 
• “In the future, I plan to engage in several biomedical research projects, and this experience was a great stepping stone to this aspiration. I would like to explore the scope of musculoskeletal disease and learn how technological and engineering-based innovations can be employed in treatment. The experience strengthened my skills in experimental design, data analysis and scientific communication, and I was very glad to be working with a wonderful, supportive team! I will carry forward my wonderful learning and collaborative experiences as I pursue my professional aspirations.” - Avyukth