When thinking about research, the image that usually comes to mind is a middle-aged Ph.D. recipient experimenting with test tubes in a lab. But there are some students at MHS already conducting research.
Senior Tvisha Nepani started a computational neuroscience internship at Yale University in January. Senior Michelle Ng investigated how meaning changes as anime is translated between languages, at the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz. Senior Mallika Ghante studied the Fibonacci sequence and number theory at UC Santa Cruz. Nepani started doing research in the summer after eighth grade
through the Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program and continued in the program until the end of her junior year, she said. She worked in multiple biochemistry groups, ranging from 11 to 21 people, focusing on drug development, she added. “I’ve always been interested in the human condition, especially because of my own encounters with death in the family or within family friends,” Nepani said. “Part of me was just always curious to find out how illnesses can be prevented.”
At Yale, Nepani is part of an ongoing computational neuroscience research project where she works with the School of Medicine’s neuroimaging data, she said. She worked at the lab over the summer on a grant-funded independent project, she added. Nepani found the opportunity by reaching out to the author of a
neuroscience paper she read and doing an interview, she added.
“At one point, I was on the other side, just thinking, ‘When is someone going to find the cure to cancer?’” Nepani said. “Realizing that I could be one of those people in the future with the work I was doing right now—I think that was one of the best moments.”
Throughout her years of research, Nepani faced both technical problems and challenges balancing research with academics, she said. Starting research in often unfamiliar fields was daunting, but through reading research papers and taking selfpaced computer science courses, Nepani was able to prepare for
the experience, she added. “The biggest thing when joining research is just having that drive to continue learning more because, for anyone, it would be a learning curve,” Nepani said.
In a different vein, senior Michelle Ng researched humanities as part of the University of UC Santa Cruz’s 10-week Science Internship Program, she said. She analyzed how translations of the Japanese anime “Hunter × Hunter” altered the author’s original meaning to fit cultural standards, she added.
“Even translators, both Korean and Japanese, might have to change things a bit to make it
more suitable for different audiences,” Ng said. “So a lot of things are lost in translation.” Ng was matched with a mentor focused on gender studies, who encouraged her to apply her interests in linguistics and Asian studies to analyze varying portrayals of the LGBTQ+ community, she added. Ng found that different translations had disparities in portrayal and some could isolate LGBTQ+ individuals, she said. “It seems so odd that something so childish (anime) can bring such a profound message,” Ng said.
Ng sometimes felt isolated doing humanities research while her peers in the program were focused on STEM research, she said. However, the value of her research became clear to her, she added. Ng ultimately presented in the program’s plenary session about the importance of researching humanities, she added. “I can’t say that I found anything cool like cancer cells,” Ng said. “But I think my research was a different kind of interesting where I felt like I could connect more with my Asian heritage. And (I was) able to share with other people who don’t have the same experience as me since there was a very diverse group of researchers there.”
Senior Mallika Ghante did another type of research: proving the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence and phi through number theory, without referring to previous mathematical proofs, she said. Ghante was mentored by Professor Richard Gottesman from Hofstra University as a participant in the four-week, residential UC Santa Cruz California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science (COSMOS) program.
“I would say that my research was a bit unconventional because, typically, when you think about research, you think about doing something in a lab and discovering something new,” Ghante said. “But mathematical research is very different; it requires collaboration and sitting in the basement of the UC Santa Cruz math department and just working away at problems.” Ghante’s fondest memory was contributing to a lecture, she said.
“We got to talk with a professor while he was presenting on the board and add to his proofs,”
Ghante said. Ghante faced limitations since the span of her research program was only four weeks, she said. She also faced difficulties with her partners having different levels of background knowledge, she said. “I think having very different viewpoints in the group actually contributed a lot to making our presentation more accessible to the people we were presenting it to because we didn’t make it very geeky,” Ghante said. “We managed to tone it down.” Ghante hopes to eventually teach and has already started spreading her love for math through running clubs on campus like MHS Math Circle, she said.
“Whether or not you’re super interested in actually doing the research, once you get there, (with) the people that you’ll be surrounded by, you’ll come to enjoy doing the research,” Ghante said. “You’re going to come to enjoy learning.”