Custom Private Projects
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Our Custom Projects program guides middle and high school students through creating their own science fair–ready project—from shaping an idea to designing experiments, analyzing results, and preparing a polished poster and presentation. With one-on-one mentorship, students build confidence and develop a competition-worthy project that showcases their creativity and scientific thinking.
Custom Group Projects
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Our Cohort Project track empowers school teams to work together on an exciting research project designed for science competitions. Students collaborate to develop a shared idea, carry out experiments, interpret data, and create a professional group poster and presentation. This pathway strengthens teamwork, communication, and problem-solving while preparing students to shine on competition day.
Custom Project and Contract Research
James Shurko, PharmD, PhD
Laboratory scientist and operations leader with expertise in clinical diagnostics, laboratory quality systems, and implementation of advanced testing workflows. Dr. Shurko supervises lab operations at iGenomeDx, ensuring scientific rigor, regulatory compliance, and hands-on training across molecular and clinical laboratory settings
Dr. Mukund Bhandari
Mukund Bhandari, MS, PhD, is a Computational Biologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. He received his PhD in Integrated Biomedical Sciences (Bioinformatics) from UT San Antonio. His research interests focus on applying computational tools and techniques to generate clinical insights from biological and multi-omics data. He also serves as Associate Editor for Journal of Translational Medicine.
Venus (Stanton) Rutherford
Venus is a PhD candidate studying bacterial pathogens and infectious diseases, with a focus on how microbes survive and cause illness in real-world environments. His research addresses global health challenges that disproportionately affect underserved communities. In addition to his research, he actively mentors students at multiple academic levels and is passionate about using inclusive, hands-on teaching strategies to support the next generation of scientists.
Shiva Kazempour, PhD
Shiva Kazempour is a computational biologist and life science entrepreneur. She received her PhD from UT Health San Antonio, where her research focused on applying AI-driven approaches to single-cell and spatial omics data.
Shiva is the Co-Managing Director of Nucleate San Antonio, where she supports and mentors student entrepreneurs in translating scientific ideas into biotech startups. Her interests focus on integrating biological insights with novel computational and AI-driven methods.