By Shae Feather and Jill Sullivan

On February 27th, 2015, Hopkinton High School hosted its Annual Science Fair. First place winner Colin Staab, senior, won with his project on muscle regeneration methods in ligament and tissue tears.

“Both my parents are scientists and they let me use their lab/equipment. My project looked at a treatment called plate-rich plasma in treating any kind of muscle-connected injury,” said Staab.

He was chosen for the first place blue ribbon by a compilation of esteemed judges, many from U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center like Ann Barrett, Karen Conca, Heidi Schreuder Gibson, and Phil Gibson. Also present was Jim Brady, from Pearson Education, Don Gallagher, from Nitto-Denko Avecia Biotechnology, Dana Hall from brightmindbrightfuture.com, and Mona Hall from Wellesley College.

Staab adds,”I got interested in science by my parents’ involvement in scientific fields and also being a soccer player, so I have friends who suffered from these injuries. The plate-rich plasma treatment has to do with a high concentration of plasma in the tears. I also studied the pathways the treatment takes in the body and how it works overall.”

The Science Fair took place in the Hopkinton High School Library and hosted 12 projects created by 14 young scientists.