Waterloo teen presented research to Prime Minister Trudeau
WATERLOO — Waterloo teen Sajeev Kohli joked that he never imagined talking to the prime minster about sticky balls, but that’s exactly what he did.
Kohli was one of a select group of student scientists hand-picked from across Canada to present their work to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Science Minister Kirsty Duncan at Parliament Hill last week.
“I was really excited. It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it was so much better than I even thought it would be,” Kohli said.
The Grade 12 student at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School said the experience was like a dream.
“Mr. Trudeau walked in and went from project to project,” Kohli said. “We were given the incredible opportunity to present our work to the prime minister of our country.”
Kohli’s research focuses on developing a new way to use nanoparticles to deliver targeted treatment for cancer and other diseases.
He likens a nanoparticle entering the bloodstream to jumping into a sticky ball pit. The person would get covered in balls, just like how protein in the blood sticks to the nanoparticle and blocks its ability to deliver a targeted treatment.
Kohli’s plan is to attach antibodies to the nanoparticle that attract “good” proteins matching receptors on the target cell, ultimately using the protein to boost the targeting ability.
His research won first place at an international science competition held in Boston in June, following his win at the national competition. The top award at the International BioGENEius Challenge came with a cash prize of $7,500.
That earned him the invitation to the prime minister’s science fair, hosted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
When Kohli shared his sticky ball pit analogy with the prime minister and science minister, both were amused. But first the teen had to overcome his nerves when Trudeau walked up.
“I’m not going to lie, I was shaking,” he said. “I think he could tell I was really nervous.”
Trudeau asked Kohli his name, then prompted him to talk about his project.
“He said it was incredible work and he was very impressed,” Kohli said.
“You could tell that he was genuinely interested in the work everyone was doing.”
Kohli was excited to learn about the other projects and meet up with like-minded friends he’s met through science fairs. Fellow Waterloo student Zachary Trefler was also there presenting.
Kohli started his research five years ago. Then in Grade 8, Kohli emailed 100 professors at the University of Waterloo asking to work in their lab.
One invited him in, and since then he’s spent all his spare time working on the project — before school, after school, weekdays and weekends.
The Ottawa trip, he said, “further cemented my idea that I’m just going to keep working on this.”