Donaysia Torbit ’20 – Ingenuity student since 6th grade
Middle School: Mount Royal Elementary/Middle
Research Area: Medicine and Health
Research Topic: The Underlying Factors that Influence Pulmonary Hypertension
Q: What do you like to do outside of studying and research?
A: “I play saxophone and I’m in the marching band. My favorite pieces to play are upbeat, pop songs. I want to continue to play in college.”
Q: When did your interest in STEM begin?
A: “7th grade Biology. That class really sparked my interest — I really liked Biology, and from there I liked Physics and Chemistry, too.”
Q: What’s your topic of research, and why did you choose it?
A: “Now it is the causes and effects of pulmonary hypertension. But I didn’t start with that. I started with genetics. After reading more, I realized that this was what I wanted to do. It’s great to be able to have this experience now so I can understand all of my options and the different types of biomedical engineering. I know that I definitely want to go into engineering for a career, and this research opened my eyes about the different paths.”
Q: Where did you do your research?
A: “At the Institute for Nanobiotechnology at Johns Hopkins University. My supervisor was Dr. Sharon Gerecht and my mentor was Eugenia Volkova.”
Q: What was the hardest part of doing research?
A: “For me, it was the terminology in the lab. I had to ask a lot of questions until I understood the lingo.”
