Canford Sixth Former has work published in US Biology journal

Congratulations to Lower Sixth Form pupil, Kunwho P, on his incredible academic achievement having his work published in the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) journal. The title of Kunwho’s work is Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Salmonella typhi: Analysis of qnrABS Resistance Genes. In mid-December Kunwho will fly to San Diego to present his abstract from a paper he wrote over the summer at Cell Bio 2024, the joint meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) and European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), which aims to ‘showcase a diverse global community of the brightest minds in cell biology.’  More information regarding the conference can be found here: https://www.ascb.org/cellbio2024/

We caught up with Kunwho to find out more about the background to his submission and his interest in pursuing a career in this field:

1.    Did you have to apply to take part in this project? How did you find out about it and what was the process?

I had to apply for CCIR 1-on-1 research programme. I had to write a personal statement and grades from school first, then I had an interview. After that, I had a meeting with my professor to discuss about the programme/research that we were going to carry out. I had heard that the programme was quite competitive to get in, so I was nervous at the start, however, when I was able to answer the interview questions quite smoothly I gained confidence.

2.    What did you enjoy most about researching and writing the paper?

The most enjoyable part is to learn contents first, then doing my own research because I could set the amount of data, tables and graphs without any restrictions.

3.    What will you be doing in San Diego?

I will be presenting my poster about my paper in San Diego Conference Hall.

4.    What are your future academic plans beyond school?

In the future I want to go to medical school. I am interested in being a specialist.

5.    How has Canford supported you with your interest in Biology?

Supportive materials from the teachers helped me to link contents from biology to deeper research from my paper about antibiotic resistance.

Nick Warde, Head of Biology, commented:

For a 17 year old to have their research published in such an important global journal is an incredible honour and outstanding achievement. Everyone in the Biology department is extremely proud of Kunwho’s dedication and passion for the subject and we all wish him every success in San Diego presenting alongside experts in cell biology from the US and Europe. It will no doubt be a wonderful opportunity and immersion into the latest developments in this field.