Edwina Liu is a Grade 11 student at Old Scona Academic in Edmonton, Alberta. Although Edwina had a passion for science at an early age, she became apprehensive about scientific research because of her lack of resources and experiences. It was the power of youth that motivated her to overcome these challenges.
During the summer before Grade 11, Edwina participated in Shad Valley at Lakehead University. When challenged to produce a project that would improve the safety or efficiency of human-powered transportation, Edwina helped redesign a rollator to address health and safety issues within mobility assistive devices. Inspired by 60 other accomplished Shads and her own accomplishments, she came home revitalized and ready to pursue her goal of improving lives through medical care. Under the mentorship of Dr. John Lewis and Dr. Jihane Mriouah, Edwina and her partner, Che-Min Lee, studied the effects of two antidiabetic drugs, metformin and fluvastatin, on the cell viability and migration of different prostate cancer cell lines. For her research, Edwina received a gold medal and the Genome Alberta Genomics Award at her regional science fair. At the 2014 Canada Wide Science Fair, she won gold and the Senior Health Challenge Award. Currently, Edwina is continuing her research during the summer, encapsulating metformin and fluvastatin in liposomes to maximize their therapeutic activity.
Asides from science, Edwina has a variety of interests, being actively involved in student government, debate, badminton, and art. She has been elected as President for her grade 12 year, overseeing all student activities. In addition, she teaches approximately 60 students the basics of speech and debate and is a sponsored badminton player at the Royal Glenora Club. She has previously won bronze at the Alberta Provincial Debate Tournament and gold at the Alberta School Athletics Association Provincials for Intermediate Mixed Doubles. Finally, Edwina enjoys oil painting and her paintings have been featured at the local library.
Edwina hopes to inspire other youth to get involved with what they are passionate about and create opportunities for themselves. It’s never too late or too early to start; you can prove that youth apathy is a myth through determination, critical thinking, and creativity!
CWSF 2014 – Windsor, Ontario – Edwina Liu & Che-Min Lee project link:
https://secure.youthscience.ca/virtualcwsf/projectdetails.php?id=4040&year=&province=&keyword=&name=Edwina&categoryid=&divisionid=&challengeid=®ionid=
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