Two SHA Juniors, One Sophomore Earn University Research Grants

Charlotte Foment '24 (ENVI):

Suncreen's impact on marine life: The effect of uncoated and coated zinc oxide nanoparticles on Zooxanthellae.

Ilenia Graffagnino '24 (BEH):

The impact of AI language models on the critical thinking abilities of college students.

Katherine Mazaroski '25 (MED):

Comparing efficacy and outcomes of open surgery versus lumbar inter spinous devices to treat lumbar spinal stenosis.

Now in its seventh year, the New York Institute of Technology's Mini-Research Grant Awards (MRGA) program awards outstanding high school students all across Long Island. The purpose of these awards is to fund the cost of research materials and related expenses associated with promising high school research project proposals or ongoing projects in STEM-related disciplines. Proposals for projects starting Spring 2024 or Fall 2025 were eligible. The amount of each award is $300.

Preference is given to student projects conceived and implemented with high school faculty mentors, and for project proposals that have preliminary data.
The program is underwritten by Voya Financial and the American Association of University Women (AAUW)

These three awards increase Sacred Heart Academy's total number of NYIT Mini-Research Grant Awards since 2019-20 to eleven (11) in five years, a record unsurpassed by any other school, public or private.

Nearly two hundred students, from more than twenty high schools, in four states submitted grant proposals. NYIT faculty from four disciplines (engineering, physical therapy, computer science & biochemistry) selected thirty recipients for 2024.

"The Sacred Heart Academy proposals were particularly noteworthy...very professional, very ambitious. Congratulations to you and to the school, but my highest praise is reserved for the girls. I'm excited to see their final projects."

- Committee Chair Nitharika Nath, Ph.D.