If all goes according to form and he and his team of Revere High School students can raise the funds necessary to make their incredible dream a reality, Nicolas “Nico” Rojas Taborda and the group will be traveling to Paris in October.
Rojas Taborda, an outstanding junior at Revere High School, is leading a team of young researchers that hopes to participate in the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, a worldwide synthetic biology competition in France. Taborda is the team captain and the RHS members are Belma Vilic, Rayan Elmzabi, Carlos Umanzor, Yossra Khassim, and Leonardo Mayorga.
Rojas Taborda’s contingent has already begun working on the project that amazingly could make an impact internationally in the medical community.
Rojas Taborda, son of Cecilia Taborda and Elkin Martinez, said they are proposing to make a yeast (generally used for bread and baking) that will create heprin, a substance used in treating blood clots.
“Heprin is injected into patients to help get their blood start flowing again after it’s clotted, and we’re trying to get a yeast to be able to produce that, since the method of getting heprin is a little hard,” explained Rojas Taborda, who was born in Colombia. “This process would be less expensive.”
Teams that have won awards at the iGEM competition have often received funding from investors for their ideas.
Rojas Taborda said the cost of the trip to France for the Revere High team would be approximately $2,500 per student.
“Raising the funds is a big endeavor for us,” said Rojas Taborda, who works weekends in the hospitality industry at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge. “We have a bake sale scheduled and we’ve been reaching out to local businesses.”
Inspired by Teachers at Revere High School
Nicolas Rojas Taborda is a member of the Underrepresented Minorites in STEM Club at Revere High School. One of his mentors, RHS teacher Jason Torrey, is adviser to the club.
“Mr. Torrey leads most of the workshops where we are taught lab skills,” said Rojas Taborda. “He also helps me personally write the protocols we use for the labs. His advice in general has been so helpful in the pursuance of our goals. I look forward to having him as my AP biology teacher next year.”
Torrey, who graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta and studied neuroscience as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, has set a somewhat novel approach to the students’ involvement in the STEM club. Torrey has given his students the independence to lead and run the STEM club.
“One of the advantages of this particular organization (STEM Club) is that it is student-led (Rojas Taborda is the club president),” said Torrey. “I understand and recognize the importance of belonging as it relates to extracurricular learning. So being able to hold space for students who have been historically minoritized and underrepresented in the STEM fields is something that is near and dear to my heart.”
One of the top-ranked students academically in the Class of 2025, Rojas Taborda has taken courses in biology, chemistry, AP precalculus, and AP chemistry.
“I’ve had some great teachers – Mr. [Alexander] Gilligan for chemistry, Ms. [Bethanne] Goldman for math, Mr. [Ethan] Costello for AP language, and of course, Mr. [Jason] Torrey, my freshman biology teacher and STEM club adviser,” said Rojas Taborda. “I showed an interest in math and now I’m taking an independent study course about number theory. All my teachers at Revere High have really inspired me.”
Asked about his college intentions, Rojas Taborda replied, “My dream is to go to MIT. They have a really great synthetic biology and bioengineering research program. That’s the field and career that I want to pursue.”
Torrey believes that Nicolas Rojas Taborda can realize his dream of attending MIT, one of the top universities in the world.
“I think he has it within him, in both the ingenuity and integrity, and realistically the stick-to-itiveness, to be able to reach his goals,” said Jason Torrey. “Based on the course load he’s been taking to-date, he’s putting himself in the same category as students that historically you would see as going to MIT. It’s also critically imperative for our students to have goals.”
Praise and Encouragement From Principal Christopher Bowen
Revere High Principal Christopher Bowen is on board for Nicolas Rojas Taborda and the Revere High students impending academic journey overseas.
“That’s really impressive,” Bowen told Rojas Taborda upon hearing a summary of the science project and the trip to France. “I am impressed by the talent and drive of students like Nicolas to push themselves to do things that students at other high schools don’t do. And the support of the teachers that work with them at Revere High School is great to see.”
