Arcadia High Senior Receives Honors from the State’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine

By California Insitute for Regenerative Medicine

Arcadia High senior Anvitha Marlapati in official City of Hope gear for her SPARK Summer 2022 Internship.

Photo courtesy CIRM

 

Arcadia High School senior, Anvitha Marlapati, was recently recognized by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for not only completing a hands-on internship in stem cell and regenerative medicine science but also taking home the program’s top prize for her social media project highlighting the experience.

 

CIRM’s Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine Knowledge, also known as the SPARK Internship Program, offers high school students across California a chance to work in a world-class stem cell and gene therapy research facility.

 

Marlapati was one of about 110 students across California who participated in the 2022 summer program. She completed her internship in the Leo Wang Lab at City of Hope, where she researched cancer cells with world-renowned scientists aiming to treat pediatric blood cancers and solid tumors more effectively.

 

"This summer has been a summer filled with a lot of creativity, curiosity, and exploration into the field of science,” shared Marlapati on her experience in the SPARK program. 

 

“I walked into this lab with zero lab experience prior, and the amount of lessons, skills, and knowledge I've learned [... through the program’s] 10 weeks itself shows how much a dedicated, committed, and curious student can do," said Marlapati, who affirmed that this program is a great opportunity for all students and not just those with science-related interests.

 

At the conclusion of this internship, Marlapati wrote about her experiences in a blog and submitted a social media project highlighting her day-to-day life as a scientist. CIRM—which funds the SPARK Program and stem cell research across the state—selected the top submissions at its annual SPARK conference in August and awarded Marlapati the "Best Social Media” prize.

 

Sample post from Marlapati’s social media storytelling of her SPARK experience.

 

“Every year, we receive many wonderful blog and social media submissions from the students, so choosing a winner was particularly tough,” said CIRM Director of Marketing & Communications Esteban Cortez. 

 

“In the end, we chose Anvitha's Instagram as the winner for the ‘Best Social Media’ category because it shared her experience in a fun, creative way and used a variety of engaging content."

 

While Marlapati shared that she enjoyed many aspects of the program, she most cherished the time working with the lab’s principal investigator, Dr. Leo Wang, as well as her mentor, Diana Gumber. 

 

“The support and mentorship they've given me throughout the entire summer is something I'll be grateful for the rest of my life,” Marlapati said.

 

The SPARK Program at City of Hope is just one of 11 active SPARK programs throughout Northern and Southern California. Other participating institutions include Stanford, UCSF, Cedars-Sinai and UC San Diego. To date, CIRM has provided 530 students with SPARK internships, and another 110 students are completing their internships this summer. For more information about CIRM and its SPARK program, visit cirm.ca.gov, and for more information about Arcadia High School, visit ahs.ausd.net.