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<p><strong>Dr. Meng-Ping Tu</strong> shares that on May 19th, the <strong>Stuyvesant MAPS Team</strong> presented their work at the <strong>NYC MAPS/SMART Team conference </strong>hosted by Stuyvesant. The team, which is in its first year, was co-founded by juniors <strong>Lauren Pehlivanian, Sherry Chen,</strong> and <strong>Elizabeth Doss</strong>, and is mentored by biology teacher Dr. Tu. Members <strong>Talia Kahan, Justin Lam, Nelson Liu, Leonard Ma, Kristoff Misquitta, Michael Nath,</strong> and <strong>Benson Weng </strong>spent the year studying the membrane channel protein aquaporin, and created a poster and model discussing aquaporin-4, which is found in the brain. They also 3D printed their model using printers in the Innovation Lab with the help of <strong>Mr. Chris Suter</strong>. The team presented their poster and 3D-printed model at the conference alongside other high schools. At the conference, <strong>Dr. Davida Smyth</strong>, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at the New School, gave a lecture on the human microbiome and its interactions with the built environment. <em>(photo courtesy of Dr. Tu)</em></p>
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