Lawrence High School students are best Medical Marvels

Lawrence High School sophomores Syed Bukhari, Gabby Domanas and Liselot Polanco and freshman Matthew Sharin captured first place over 30 other high schools at Northwell Health’s 2020 Medical Marvels competition at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research — the research arms of Northwell Health — on Feb. 28.

The students, freshmen and sophomores, were required to submit a 15-page proposal paper on their project, along with a poster board highlighting the details of the papers. Students gave oral presentation using their poster and answered questions posed by the judges. The challenge this year was to organize a statewide task force to develop and implement a strategy to address people not getting vaccinated and to boost the immunization rate.

Bukhari, Domanas, Polanco and Sharin developed a plan using social media, billboards and the media to communicate positive information on vaccines and contest the false myths. The Lawrence students established strict vaccination requirements for schools, presented the idea of schools having free vaccination clinics and hosting forums to educate the school community on the importance and safety of vaccines, and having vaccination education included in every school’s health curriculum.   

“The team worked harmoniously together with energy and enthusiasm, and this showed in their presentation,” said Lawrence High School teacher Rebecca Isserof who guided the students through the project process.    

The Northwell Health Medical Marvels Competition aims to “seek and empower” the next generation of healthcare visionaries. The competition was founded in 2013 by the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and the Center for Workforce Readiness and stresses the impact of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers to the participating high school students.