Dear miRcorers, I am excited about the UM GIDAS Invited Speaker Series talk this Saturday noon-1 pm. Dr. Koschmann (MD/PhD, Assistant Professor) is a research doctor taking care of children with brain cancer at the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital. All miRcorers (students and parents) and GIDAS members are invited to the talk. Ple
Dear miRcorers, This weekend, we will run an R script to convert gene symbols to Entrez id’s, to make the KEGG pathway analysis easier. For those who don’t have R and Rstudio on your computer, please download both before this weekend’s meeting. https://rstudio-education.github.io/hopr/starting.html Group research The group research guide session wi
Dear miRcorers, Happy February and Wednesday! 1) Genes and Health contest success Congratulations to all of you who participated in the 9th Genes and Health Contest last Saturday. I was happy to see so many students enjoying the contest. A huge thank you to UM GIDAS for transforming it into an all-virtual event. Next year will probably be virtual a
Dear MVP students, With more places going under stricter rules, some of you are switching to all online learning. We’ve talked about COVID fatigue but there is hope. Let’s stay safe and healthy until we reach the end of the tunnel. Keep up a daily routine and join miRcore meetings where we can laugh together. Microgrant fundraiser Innovation is har
Dear MVP students and parents, 1) Groups I hope the new groups work well for everyone. All groups were prepared based on last weekend’s meeting attendance projection responses, so if you did not submit last week’s form, you probably don’t have a group. Please check your group in the “2020-21 MVP Groups” worksheet under the 2020-21 MVP Resources fol
Dear MVP students and parents, A. This Saturday, UM GIDAS Speaker Series University of Michigan GIDAS is excited to welcome Dr. Sami Barmada for a virtual talk this Saturday, November 7, at 1-2 PM EST! Dr. Barmada is an Associate Professor in the Neurology department at Michigan Medicine and specializes in ALS and frontotemporal dementia research,
Dear MVP students and parents, Now we are getting used to MVP meetings. Thanks everyone for your active participation, including the parent research group! I will only send out zoom invites to those who responded to the form after preassigned breakout groups. This will also ensure to me that you are still engaged in our program even if you cannot j
Dear MVP students and parents, Thanks to everyone who responded to the surveys! Based on student responses, we will add a group session on Sun 4-5 pm EST (1-2 pm PDT) for those who cannot make the Sat meetings. Please make sure you watch the meeting recordings before the group meeting. Thanks to those who got a regular membership. It will help us s
Dear MVP students and parents, Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and concerns during the first MVP meeting. I am emailing you one day early because there are a few things we need to determine. 1) First of all, I would like to invite all of you to a Science Magazine Webinar, which will take place this Thursday from noon to 1 pm (EST). Science
Welcome to the miRcore volunteer program! We are holding the first meeting of the 2020-21 school year on Oct 3, 2020, 2-4 pm. Although it is a mandatory meeting for both parents and students, I understand if some people cannot make it. Please respond to the attendance projection form so that I can provide a meeting link to participants and a record
Dear MVP students, Wow, we’ve had a full 30 Saturday meetings for 2019-20 school year! We learned a lot from each other, and we will continue growing. With officer meetings on Mondays and the added week-day meetings due to COVID-19, I’ve spent more time with year’s students than any other year. Knowing you all has given me hope, and I want to thank
Dear MVP students! We are now the last stretch of the 2019-20 season. Two more meetings and then we will resume in September for the 2020-21 season. Senior graduates, I am already missing you just thinking about it. 1) No Thursday team-building this week. I hope you have now established a new norm and have less need of mid-week support. I enjoyed g
Mori O. made this visualization of Covid-19 cases in Michigan, for which he won 2nd place in a nationwide recognition program: http://studentpress.org/nspa/occ-outstanding-coronavirus-coverage-honorees/
Dear MVP students, Keep doing well with your exams! Based on your feedback, we will continue Thu team-building in addition to the main MVP meetings. I am also happy to see your bright faces. This week’s email will be short. 1) Study with me session It was a bit difficult to coordinate your schedules, especially with AP exams. To reduce scheduling d
Dear MVP students, With AP exams next week, many students are feeling anxious and stressed. So, based on your responses, we will shorten next two MVP meetings to 1 hours. Even if you cannot join the meeting please submit the meeting projection form saying that you cannot join. I understand that sometimes you cannot join. Your respons
As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to evolve, it is important for everyone to continue observing best practices for self-care and the prevention of virus transmission. The World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and Johns Hopkins University websites all have reliable info on the COVID-19 worldwide situation and effective heal
Dear MVP’s, Thank you for your amazing work in making today’s Amazing World of Genes, Biology, and Me Workshop possible! We raised $465.00 and (hopefully) inspired another generation of students to get excited about science. I was impressed by the fun and informative activities Fundraising Committee members created and taught. Public Relations Comm
Due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, it is obviously an uncertain time, and many of us may be feeling anxious, stressed, or isolated. Here are some tips for how you and your GIDAS members can continue to feel connected and positive in the next few weeks. Digital Meeting Platforms Are you looking for ways to hold GIDAS meetings online? Download t
Hello GIDAS leaders, miRcore Fundraising Committee is proud to present the 2020 Amazing World of Genes, Biology, and Me half-day workshop. The workshop is intended to increase interest in GIDAS/miRcore and raise money for our opioid addiction microgrant. The target audience is 4th-9th graders; we need your help to spread the word! Event Details Dat
Hello GIDAS Leaders, I hope everyone had a great winter break! As school resumes, so do miRcore & GIDAS meetings. The GIDAS Genes and Health Contest is right around the corner, on Saturday, January 25, 2020. I encourage you to start reviewing for the Contest in your clubs, if you have not already. The Contest website from last year has many stu
Please join us at Busch’s on Main Street on Sunday 12/1 as we fundraise for this year’s microgrant. Also come out on 12/3 to the Arbor Land noodles and company and a portion of your sale will go towards the microgrant!
This weekend is fundraising weekend! We will be selling concessions at the Ann Arbor Stamps show the 2nd and 3rd at Washtenaw community college to raise money for the microgrant. Come enjoy the stamps and donate!
The research paper by Huron High School students, Halla Kabat and Leo Tunkle, “ceRNA search method identified a MET-activated subgroup among EGFR DNA amplified lung adenocarcinoma patients” was accepted at the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing 2017 and now published online.
Minjun Kim (Community High School) was mentored under the Prof. Yuanfang Guan (University of Michigan) during the summer 2016 and the results got him in tied 2nd place (Runner-up position) in DREAM Disease Module Identification Challenge as a team PureMichigan.
Huron High School student Neerja Garikipati is among the semi-finalists named across the United States in this year’s prestigious Siemens Competition, the nation’s premier competition in math, science and technology for high school students.
Shreya Rao and Danna Shefa (Grand Blanc High School) raised over $3,000 for the lung cancer microgrants. Kudos!
Rephael Berkooz’s project was awarded second place in Microbiology/Biochemistry, a Senior Division Special award (one of two awarded) by the Sigma Xi Chapter of UM, a recognition of effective use of statistical methods by the Ann Arbor and Detroit Chapters of the American Statistical Association, the science fair committee, and the UM engineering s
Marianne is one of nine 2014 finalists of Young Citizen of the Year (chosen for their leadership and community service) and received $1,000 scholarship from the Robert Bruce Dunlap Fund of Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation.
Cassidy and Marianne visited Dr. Barmada and Dr. Ivanova at University of Michigan Neurology Department to understand their research on Alzheimer’s as a part of microgrant fundraiser activity.
Fourteen miRcore volunteer high school students raised $798 at Green Roald Busch’s in Ann Arbor to support Alzheimer’s research by Dr. Barmada and Dr. Ivanova at University of Michigan.
Ten miRcore volunteer high school students performed music at the Silver Club Memory Program of the University of Michigan.
Grace Ganzel was featured in the Univeristy of Michigan Scientista, “High School Scientista Spotlight – Grace Ganzel“.
Marianne Cowherd presented at TEDx Youth Ann Arbor on March 22, 2014. Her talk title is “Science, Youth, and You” and is at time frame from 30 min to 37 min. Re-broadcast on Comcast Education Channel 18: Saturday, March 29 at 5pm; Saturday April 12th at 5pm; Wednesday, April 23 at 9 am or Live stream the channel here: http://a2edutv.pegstream.com/.
Grace Ganzel received the 2nd Place Grand Award at the Southeast Michigan Science Fair 2014 with her research at miRcore/GIDAS. With the award, she was selected to go to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May 2014 in Los Angelos. Her other awards include the 1st Place Computer Science & Math Award, Intel Excellence in Compu
