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Pulaski Academy students Nyera Ali (left) and Akshara Chevireddy (right) with College of Medicine staff scientist Reine Protacio, Ph.D.

2 High School Students, UAMS Researchers Published in Journal

Nov. 26, 2025 | Two high school students working with scientists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have earned major recognition.

Nyera Ali and Akshara Chevireddy, who attend Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, recently had their scientific paper “Long multiply marked DNA repair template reveals lengths and fidelity of genome editing tracts in Schizosaccharomyces pombe” published in microPublication Biology.

Both students were working under the supervision of staff scientist Reine Protacio, Ph.D., in the lab of Wayne Wahls, Ph.D., a professor in the College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

“This major accomplishment reflects highly upon the talents and hard work of those two high school students and their mentor, Dr. Protacio,” Wahls said. “The publication of their research in a peer-reviewed journal also illustrates UAMS’ commitment to foster and train the next generation of scientists and physicians.”

“Learning how to organize data into a manuscript, as well as navigating the peer review and editorial processes, are all important parts of conducting research,” said Protacio. “I’m so pleased their hard work resulted in a publication and that we were able to share their findings.”

Ali and Chevireddy were researching the efficiency of the CRISPR precise genome editing system, which is widely used in biomedical research to develop therapies for genetic diseases.

“The work by these students tested the system’s ability to modify DNA over longer distances and may lead to improvements in the technology,” Protacio added.

Ali and Chevireddy finished third in the Cellular and Molecular Biology division during the Central Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair at the University of Arkansas Little Rock on Feb. 28. The pair earned a first-place award in Microbiology, as well as the Outstanding Project Award from the Society for In Vitro Biology, at the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair held at the University of Central Arkansas on April 4-5.