The City Honors School Science Research Program (SRP) is a rich learning experience that is carried out over the entire four years of high school, which allows students to become more proficient with a variety of laboratory techniques. The experience concludes with the presentation/defense of a thesis to the research and school community at the end of senior year. Successful SRP students are awarded a special joint diploma by the school and research institution.

Students work with a mentor to perform research at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RCPI), Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWMRI), or Jacobs Institute at the Clinical & Translational Research Center. Students in the program must maintain an 85 average in ALL academic courses including Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses.

Link to the program's fan page on Facebook.

For more information on the CHS Science Research Program, please contact Mr. Todd Richards.

• SRP students are also required to present the ongoing findings from their research at several regional and national science symposiums each year.

• Students have a research mentor who is a professional scientist at RPCI/HWMRI. The research mentor is responsible for helping the student plan and oversee his/her research experience. The mentor provides the student with necessary workspace, supplies, technical expertise and accepts the student as a contributing member of the research team.

• The students have an education mentor who is the “link” between City Honors School and RPCI/HWMRI. The education mentor provides students with assistance in writing research abstracts and papers, rehearsing presentations and also provides a basic academic foundation in biology and chemistry. The education mentor also monitors academic progress of all students in the program.

• This program is unique because it offers the students an opportunity to do actual scientific research and gives students a head start on entering the fields of medicine or medical research. Students are prepared to become leaders in Buffalo’s new economy in medical research and treatment.

• Many students in the program go on to attend colleges and universities with prestigious health/medicine research programs. Harvard University, Yale University, Cornell University, and University of Chicago are just a few of the universities that students attend after graduating from City Honors.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute:

Class of 2025:
• Genevieve Harris, Hassan Jamil, Poppy Marrano, Cameron Sutherland

Class of 2026:
• Sabiha Diba, Jane Kellet, Emmett King, Eireann Kennedy, Omar Jallow, Frances Teaman, Vera Vishwanath, Nolan Clough

Class of 2027:
• Max Medakovich, Shaan Merchant, Grishm Yagielski

Hauptman-Woodward:

Class of 2026:
• Ashtin Batiste

Class of 2027:
• Omar Khan, Jawad Sarker

The Jacobs Institute at the Clinical & Translational Research Center

Class of 2025:
• Giacomo Biondini, Charlotte Colder

Class of 2026:
• Amadeo Bhattacharjee, Ismat Hayder, Spencer Lenahan, Melia Maussner

Class of 2027:
• Imrun Chowdhury, Sanjida Kalam, Maimuna Mim

• Attend a regular Morning Class each day from 7:30 am - 8:10 am during the application process.

• Mentors will require reading and summarizing scientific research papers. An intensive course in Biology and Chemistry.

• Students accepted into the program are encouraged to participate in either Speech and Debate, Model UN, or Mock Trial. Students should carry a full IB course load.

• Interview by a mentor at RPCI/HWMRI. Ultimately, the participating mentor decides the student that he/she will mentor.

• Present at various science fair competitions. Including the: Willie Hutch Jones STEAM Fair, the TERRA WNY Science Fair, the Buffalo Public Schools STEAM Showcase, and some students may be advanced to the Genius Olympiad at R.I.T. and ISEF.

• The CHS Science Research Program was started in 1998 by Thomas Geelan, a science teacher at City Honors School and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Education Department members, Dr. Edwin Mirand and Mr. Craig Johnson.

• The program was expanded to Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWMRI) in 2005 through the efforts of City Honors Principal, Dr. William Kresse, then-coordinator, Mr. Dean Johnson, Dr. Jane Griffin and Dr. Bill Duax from HWMRI.

• City Honors science teacher, Ms. Kelly Hyla, served as the coordinator of the program from 2008-2015 and oversaw its continued expansion into additional laboratories.

• Mr. Todd Richards is the current program coordinator and has been working to expand the program even more, as the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus continues to grow.

• In 2009, Jimmiti Teysir was the first student to win a grand finalist award at the Ying TRSEF and compete at the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) alongside 1500 young scientists from around the world.  Since then, students from the program have moved on to the INTEL ISEF:

  • 2010: Fiona Hennig and Rasheen Powell

  • 2011: Dana Hogan, Marissa Komanski and Minerva Ringland

  • 2012: Seamus Degan, Nicci Moran-Guiati and Rasheen Powell

  • 2013: Jordan Tick and Yanking Yang

  • 2015: Hakeem Salim

  • 2016: Hakeem Salim and Ramzi Talhouk

  • 2018: Liam Dell

  • 2019: Liam Dell

  • 2020: Andreea Merzianu

  • 2022: Amelia Colder

  • 2024: Frances Teaman and Vera Vishwanath

• In 2011, Miriam Frisch was the first City Honors SRP student to be selected as a semifinalist in the INTEL Science Talent Search (STS). She received a $1000 scholarship. Nicci Moran-Guiati was selected the following year and also received a $1000 scholarship.

• In 2011 and 2012, Nicci Moran-Guiati submitted her abstract to the American Association of Cancer Researchers (AACR) and it was accepted. She was the only high school student to present her research at the conference alongside graduate students and post doctoral students.

• In the summer of 2011, Wendy Yang and Partho Bhattacharya had a paper published in Oncotarget Journal, June 2011 titled: Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in prostate cancer cells likely represents a laboratory artifact.  Wendy and Partho were first and second authors respectively with their mentor Dr. Eugene Kandel.

• In 2013, Yankang Yang received Highest Honors at Ying TRSEF and went on to earn a 3rd place, Grand Award, as an Intel ISEF Finalist for: Investigating  an enzyme and its regulatory effects on the immune system. It has implications in leukemia, asthma, and arthritis research.

• In 2015, Sydney Johnson and Hannah Slabodkin were Gold Medal finalists at the Genius Olympiad in Oswego for: Determining the Role of Rac1in Resistance to BRAF Inhibition in Melanoma.

• Also in 2015, Ramzi Talhouk received Highest Honors, a Special Award from the Society for In Vitro Biology, he was a Ying Scholarship Finalist, and was advanced to Intel ISEF for: A Novel Mouse Model to Mimic the Evolution of Cancer.

• Ying Scholarship Award Winners ($1000 Scholarship):

  • 2010: Dana Hogan

  • 2011: Fiona Hennig

  • 2012: Seamus Degan

  • 2013: Yanking Yang

  • 2014: Rex Herzberg

  • 2018: Leo Biehl

• Funding for the program comes from grants from the City Honors/Fosdick-Masten Park Foundation, monetary assistance from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and each student contributes approximately $30.00 each school year (if financially feasible for his/her family). The Buffalo Board of Education frees up the coordinator from two teaching periods a day to offer the morning seminar, coordinate with the two institutes, and to support/monitor students in their work.

• Donations to support the work of our students in the program and their participation in science symposiums can be sent to the CH/FMP Foundation, c/o City Honors School.