Bobbi-Ann Matheson, a senior at Royal Palm Beach High School, is one of the nation’s newest scientific minds. While her peers were relaxing during summer break, Matheson was attending the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida. She was apprenticed to Dr. Josephine Allen in the College of Material Science and Engineering.
Matheson was assigned as a research assistant on a project to develop a polymer cardiac stent that would be absorbed by the body after opening a blockage and delivering the medication and could eventually replace the current drug eluting stents, which are made of metal and can cause inflammatory reactions and other complications.
The team Matheson worked with was successful in developing an electro-spinning process to create the polymer thread necessary to fabricate the stent. Matheson’s research earned her 12 hours of college credit. Currently, she is working on college and scholarship applications for next year and hopes to continue her work in bio-engineering.
ABOVE: Bobbi-Ann Matheson
