Preuss School Student Takes
First Place Award in Greater
San Diego Science/Engineering Fair

April 16, 2008

Pat JaCoby

Paul Tran, a sophomore student at the Preuss School, UC San Diego, is one of four winners of  First Place and Senior Division Sweepstakes awards in the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair.

Paul Tran

His winning project? “The Inhibitory Effect of HKa on Migration of Prostate Cancer is Mediated by Blocking Interaction of EGFR and uPAR.” Hummm. Asked to explain that in lay terms, Tran replies, “It pretty much means I used a protein found in the blood to prevent the metastasis of prostate cancer.”

The 15-year-old student takes part in the Physician Scientist Training Program at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he worked on the project last summer. He was admitted to the program while in the seventh grade, one of 35 students nationwide to be selected, and prior to last summer’s research work took four university-level courses at Temple.

Tran entered the Preuss School in the sixth grade and says, “without reservation, I owe much of my success to Preuss. Growing up in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, I learned the hard way that kids like me, kids who come from low socioeconomic status, were not supposed to succeed. However, as a Preuss student, I realized that this assertion is not true.

“Preuss equipped me with the tools I need to be competitively eligible for college,” he says, “compulsory Honors/AP courses, education and social opportunities—opportunities not available in my local community. It was through Preuss that I was connected with the Physician Scientist Training Program, the FIRST robotics program, and the science fair.”

The multi-talented student, whose native language is Vietnamese, says his hobbies include “building a fully-functioning robot in six short weeks with his peers; organizing outreach programs with other students to spread our fervor for math/science to other students, especially disadvantaged students, in San Diego, and performing on stage with a choir.” And, he adds, “I am also a big karaoke, photography and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ fan.”

Tran says his ultimate goal is to be the first in his family to go to college, medical school, and attain an MD/PhD. “With this double degree,” he says, “I can foster medical discoveries in a laboratory and practice directly with patients in a clinical setting.”

Media Contact: Pat JaCoby, 858-534-7404