Willowbrook junior wins LMI Aerospace Inc. Award for Excellence in Research

Willowbrook junior Sally Nijim has won the LMI Aerospace Inc. Award for Excellence in Research.

This past summer, Nijim participated in the Students and Teachers as Research Scientist (STARS) Program, where she spent six weeks conducting intensive research with St. Louis-area professionals and professors as part of the program at University of Missouri–St. Louis. Out of 88 high school students who participated in the program, 30 were named as winners of the LMI Aerospace Inc. Award for Excellence in Research – including Nijim. Students wrote a research paper based on experiments conducted in St. Louis research labs, and Nijim received the award for her paper entitled, “The Role of the Transcription Factor Atonal Homolog 8 in Erythropoiesis and Iron Homeostasis.”

“I was really excited,” Nijim said of winning the award. “It was the culmination of all of my efforts.”

A panel of 13 scientists reviewed the research papers in their area of specialty. Winning papers best exemplified the following qualities: difficulty and complexity of research, appropriateness of the research methodology, findings, quality of writing and overall quality of the research process. This was Nijim’s first time participating in the program, and she researched and wrote about the role of genes in regulating iron levels in the blood. She said she plans to pursue science as a career.

“This program was a tremendous opportunity,” Nijim said. “It gave me exposure to the inner workings of the medical field and let me take on the role of a research scientist while in high school.”

Nijim will be recognized for her accomplishment on Oct. 6 at University of Missouri–St. Louis.