Notebooks filled with records of experiments, microscopes with bacteria under them and Petri dishes with virulent fungus inside. These are the items in Emily Porrez’s workstation in classroom 2191, where she’s able to dedicate time to her year-long project, truly apply herself and let her determination shine.

Porrez participates in IRDI (Invest-igative Research Design and Innovation), a class where students tackle a year-long project that focuses on the scientific field. Porrez has worked to fill a gap in scientific research on the topic of probiotic treatment for fungal infections.

Porrez’s love for science began by witnessing the treatment of her grandfather when he was in the hospital. Diagnosed with congestive heart failure, he needed to be prescribed many medications. Porrez’s mother was responsible for providing and describing the medication to him. The effect of medication helped him, and this had a positive effect on Porrez. “I got super passionate because he was someone who mattered a lot to me,” said Porrez.

When Porrez entered high school, her biology class captivated her. Allison Hennings, Porrez’s biology teacher, convinced her to join IRDI for her Junior year. Hennings is also the teacher, creator, and director of IRDI.

The title of Porrez’s project is “Novel Probiotic Treatment for C.albicans Utilizing Antifungal Inhibitors of L.acidophilus via a Bombyx mori Infection Model.” In simpler terms, she’s attempting to use probiotics as a treatment for C.albicans infections, which is a fungal disease that can affect a wide variety of species, including humans. To do this, she’s injecting a group of silkworms with L.acidophilus, a probiotic that breaks down lactic acid, and the C.albicans fungus. She then monitored the survival rates of the silkworms exposed to the fungus compared to those treated with the probiotic.

This experiment yielded an 80 percent increase in the chance of survival of the silkworms. Porrez hypothesized the effect that L.acidophilus would have on C.albicans but didn’t expect the magnitude at which it would work. “I did expect to see a pattern due to the L.acidophilus species’ known inhibitory effects, but yes, the significance of the results did surprise me,” Porrez said.

Porrez’s experiment caught the judges’ attention at the regional JSHS (Junior Science and Humanities Symposium) competition on Feb. 25. JSHS is a program funded by the Department of Defense that holds STEM-based competitions where students can present their research projects to judges and professors. At this competition, Porrez was awarded a first-place prize. 

A senior classmate, Nadya Dhillon, placed third. Porrez and Dhillon won an all-expense-paid trip to the national competition, held April 12 to 15 in Virginia Beach. They joined an elite group of 245 qualifiers from around the country and from international Department of Defense schools.

Both of them won awards: Dhillon placed fourth overall in the medical/health category, and Porrez placed fourth in the biomedical sciences category. The symposium featured eight total categories.

Porrez developed her winning strategies within the class space. Classmates describe her to be a source of inspiration. Dhillon said that “Emily is great to work with. She is always so cheerful and easy to talk to.” Hennings shared a similar sentiment, stating, “Emily is an enormous asset to our current IRDI class as well as paving the way for future IRDI students.”

Currently, Porrez works as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens, filling prescriptions. Her future goal is to continue this career at a higher level. “I’d like to move up further in a company and move to be a certified technician and then a senior technician and move up there, and I’d love to go to college for pharmacy as well,” said Porrez.

Overall, Porrez’s passion extends through all facets of her work, affecting teachers and classmates alike. “I love what I’m doing in school,” said Porrez. “I love what I’m doing in work. I found the field that is perfect for me and it’s my passion. It’s what I love. I found the right thing for me.”