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The image shows three individuals in formal attire, with their names and ages displayed below their respective portraits.
The image shows a group of four individuals standing on a stage, with the Mayo Clinic logo displayed in the background.
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The image shows three individuals, a man and two women, standing on a stage in front of an audience. The background displays the text %22Nishi Shah, The Bolles School, Faculty Mentor%22 projected on a screen.
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Students Present at Mayo Clinic’s SPARK Symposium

Three Bolles upper school students presented their research at Mayo Clinic’s 2025 SPARK Awards & Poster Symposium on December 2: Leonardo Petrucelli ’26, Nishi Shah ’27 and Michael Zhang ’26.

The SPARK Research Mentorship Program gives high school students hands-on experience in world-class Mayo Clinic laboratories. SPARK—which stands for Science Program for the Advancement of Research Knowledge—was launched in 2017 and serves students from Duval and St. Johns counties. Participants develop competitive projects for science fairs, often earning regional and state honors.

Student Research Highlights:

Leonardo Petrucelli
Mayo Clinic Faculty Mentor: Yongjie Zhang, Ph.D.
Advisors: Janie Citrano and Jorge Alaiz Noya
TDP-43 Pathology and Cryptic Antigens: A New Link to the Immune System in Frontotemporal Dementia

Nishi Shah
Mayo Clinic Faculty Mentor: Eduardo Chini, M.D., Ph.D.
Advisor: Sonu Kashyap, Ph.D.
The Potential of NAD Boosting in Rejuvenating Aged Organs for Transplantation

Michael Zhang
Mayo Clinic Faculty Mentor: Mercedes Prudencio, Ph.D.
Advisor: Alyssa Walker
Understanding the Transcriptomic Signatures of FTLD-TDP Subtypes

Congratulations to these outstanding student scientists! #BulldogProud