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Young MUSC researcher now at Duke University  by Dick Peterson Public Relations Down a short hallway from Daniel Fernandes’ office on the second floor of the Hollings Cancer Center you’ll find what was Philip Kurian’s desk in a corner tucked behind laboratory benches. Expensive real estate for a high school student. But it was here Kurian spent after-school hours on a biomedical research project that propelled him to first place in state and national science competitions and ultimately to a four-year, tuition-free invitation to Duke University. He turned down a similar scholarship to Harvard University. A few weeks ago, Kurian returned from a scientific conference in England where he presented his research. The conference and $20,000 was his award for winning first place at the National Science Congress competition. And that after winning first place at the state level. The breakneck schedule left him just one day to pack for college.  “It was one of the best times of my life,” Kurian said of the two weeks at the Academy of Applied Sciences in London. There he met people from around the globe, including young scientists who, like him, won national recognition for their research. He said the two weeks at the academy also included a visit to Cambridge University where he visited the labs of some of history’s most prominent scientific minds. “We saw the actual equipment they used, saw what they did and how they did it,” he said. Kurian’s project, the result of researching scientific papers, asking probing questions and offering solutions, actually plowed new scientific ground and produced fruit. He developed an assay that can be used by scientists and clinicians in cancer treatment and research. Fernandes explained that many agents, including chemicals, radiation, and certain drugs, induce cancer by damaging DNA. This damage causes mutations in the DNA that direct the abnormal growth of cancer cells. “Phillip, with the help of others in the laboratory, developed an assay that is capable of measuring mutations in small segments of DNA with a high degree of accuracy,” he said. “Many graduate students aren't as well prepared,” Fernandes said. “Kurian would read a research paper, ask the right questions, understand complicated concepts, discuss issues and offer solutions. With this assay, investigators are now able to closely follow the development of mutations within individual genes following exposure to agents that cause cancer.” Fernandes said some competition judges are incredulous; they doubt a high schooler can produce such work on his own. Kurian said he takes it in stride, and once he explains the project and processes involved they know he has an intimate knowledge of the work—a knowledge he could only get by doing it himself. Kurian also holds this year’s Intel Science Award, the FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) Undergraduate Research Award, and first place in the South Carolina Science Fair. A graduate of Charleston's Academic Magnet School, Kurian attended S.C. Governor's School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville, where he was mentored by MUSC’s George Tempel, Ph.D.