A TALENTED teenager from the North East is in the running for a national award for her appliance of science in pioneering medical research.
Emma Sharman from County Durham has been shortlisted for the UK’s Young Scientist of the Year award, judged by leading academics, including popular physicist and TV presenter Professor Brian Cox.
The 17-year-old swapped her summer holiday last year for six weeks working with scientists in a lab, helping to develop new techniques to treat diabetes.
She will find out on Friday if she’s been successful at this year’s UK’s Young Scientists and Engineers’ Fair, being staged at London’s ExCeL exhibition and convention centre.
Emma, from Peterlee, who is studying maths, chemistry and biology at A-level, produced her project at Sunderland University after applying through the Nuffield Research Placements.
The bursary scheme gives students the chance to work alongside professional scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians each year.
Emma said: “Just to be nominated is a fantastic achievement in itself for me. I achieved a Gold Crest award and was then put forward for the UK Science and Engineering competition by Nuffield.
“I’ll be setting up a stand at the Big Bang Fair and showcasing my posters which will be judged by Professor Brian Cox.
“To win would be fantastic. But I am going to make the most of the opportunity and see what happens.”
She added: “My project focuses on insulin and a new treatment for diabetics. It was a great experience being taught in a practical setting on a university campus in such fantastic facilities, working with the different chemicals to see how they interacted.
“It certainly helped me decided that I want to work in pharmacy. I learned a lot of new techniques, using equipment I’d never used before.” The teenager impressed judges with her project on insulin and a new treatment for diabetics which scientists at Sunderland University are currently working on, led by Dr Hamde Nazar.
Called Pin Cushion No Longer, Emma’s project is drawn from Dr Nazar’s PhD, which uses a nasal gel to deliver insulin to diabetic patients and put an end to the numerous daily injections.
Dr Nazar said: “Emma was one of four students we hosted through the Nuffield Research Placements over the summer to support my research, looking at experiments to try and modify the hydrogel, and incorporate another system to make it glucose sensitive.
“She managed to validate the research in such a way that it would have impact and is justified by valid scientific evidence.”
Dr Nazar added: “Emma was brilliant in the lab; conscientious, organised, a very good all- round student, she took the initiative and had an inquisitive mind, her presentation skills were also excellent. She has an incredibly bright future and has done well to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award.”
Emma is heading to the capital with her mother Jackie today for the exhibition at the ExCeL with finalists competing for more than 30 prizes worth more than £50,000.
Medical research sparked project
EMMA’S project was inspired by Dr Hamde Nazar’s PhD research.
When insulin was taken via an injection it took just nine hours to return to their normal levels. Injections can be an inconvenience for those with diabetes as well as make them distressed. A nasal spray could be a much more attractive alternative treatment and less painful. Dr Nazar said: "This process could potentially be beneficial because it would reduce the number of injections patients would have to administer. "Some people have to take up to five injections per day. This could replace some of those injections." She added: "Reducing the number of insulin injections could significantly improve diabetic patients’ standard of living." It is thought around 300,000 people in the UK suffer from Type 1 diabetes which destroys insulin-making cells in the pancreas. Dr Nazar’s results show that gel loaded with insulin reduces the blood glucose levels over 24 hours in a diabetic model when administered through the nose and into the bloodstream.
