Two Sacred Heart Prep students win prizes related to stopping SARS-CoV-2 from infecting human cells

Sacred Heart Prep AP Bio student Millie Muir (SHP ’22) (pictured right) placed first in a protein engineers contest sponsored by Codexis, a global engineering company with headquarters in the Bay Area; classmate Tiffany Sanchez (SHP ’21) placed second.

Both students’ winning projects focused on how to engineer proteins that could potentially stop SARS-CoV-2 from infecting human cells. Click here to view their video presentations.

AP Bio teacher Diane Sweeney said: “Interestingly, a new study has just been published where researchers are using very similar proteins to those Millie and Tiffany designed to stop COVID-19 — so perhaps they were even ahead of the curve. These students are incredibly talented in the sciences.”

Millie said biomedical engineering is intriguing to her “because it has the potential to positively impact the lives of so many. I’m also drawn to the component of problem solving and theorizing that this field of science poses.”

She added that AP Bio is one of her favorite courses so far this year, along with a “wide variety of subjects that interest me, ranging in courses from STEM to ceramics.” She’s also a talented student-athlete.

Photos courtesy of Sacred Heart Prep