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Summer research intern wins top honor at apprentice program Brittany Brooks, a senior at Burke High School, recently won the top honor for a presentation of her work in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and Drew  National High School Summer Research Apprentice Program.   Brooks was selected as one of 75 high school students in the nation to participate in a research project at a leading medical university. Her award- winning research was performed under the mentorship of Michael Janech, Ph.D., and Milos Budisavljevic, M.D., in the Division of Nephrology.   During the summer, Brooks took part in an investigation to identify a mitochondrial DNA mutation that may lead to magnesium wasting, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Her results revealed the presence of a novel mutation in the mitochondrial transfer RNA-Ile gene.   For her efforts, NIH/NIDDK/DREW offered to fund Brooks’s research so that she may continue her project throughout her senior year at Burke High School.   In addition to being a researcher, Brooks is a musician and is making plans to major in pre-med at Georgetown University next year. Friday, Sept. 15, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Papers at 849-1778, ext. 201.