PINE MOUNTAIN CLUB, Calif. (KERO) — Many middle schoolers spend their free time playing video games or playing outdoors.
But for Alekha Goldberg, a seventh-grade student at Peak to Peak Mountain Charter in Pine Mountain Club, she prefers to be behind the microscope.
“It was something we had to kind of work into our everyday lives, as in, ‘Dad, I can’t come to dinner yet. I’m in the middle of electrifying my planaria,’” said Rageshwar Goldberg, Alekha’s mother.
“When cut in half, each half regenerates into a new planaria rather than them feeling pain,” said Alekha. “I electrified them and over the course of a few weeks, I checked the regeneration, and in fact, electricity did help them regenerate faster.”
Her project, titled “Planarian, heal thyself! Electricity’s effect on regeneration rates,” won first place at her school’s science fair.
“A lot of people have chronic wounds or injuries, and the most recommended way to get rid of those is with surgery or medication, but not everybody can get those because of risks, expenses, and side effects. But with electrophysiotherapy, people can heal their wounds or their injuries,” said Alekha.
She then took first place countywide and statewide, which brought her to the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, where she’s ranked among the top 300 STEM students in the nation.
But for Alekha, this project holds a deeper meaning beyond the microscope and her hopes to one day become a surgeon.
“A few years ago, my mom got a ruptured disc in her back, and it hurt her a lot,” said Alekha. “And the doctor said surgery had risks, and medications were making her nauseous and sick. So her best option was physiotherapy, which later turned out to be electrophysiotherapy. This inspired me to wonder if it would actually help and how much it did help if it did.”
Her mother said, “Kids, especially in middle school, have this great passion to change the world and to do things that they can really see the results of it. So by her thinking about what I was dealing with and she kind of saw that unfold over a long period of time. And it continues to be like something like that, I deal with, cause it’s like a permanent injury. Seeing her think about that in a thoughtful way, where ‘what can I do to make this better for people?’ It’s really inspiring to see as an adult.”
30 finalists will be announced on September 17, where they’ll be able to compete for more than $100,000 in awards and prizes.
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