(Listed alphabetically by FIRST NAME)
A: FROM MENTOR BARB KONTOGIANNIS IN CO
I would research different energy sources, particularly for automobiles. It would be wonderful to come up with a non-polluting, renewable (or at least relatively unlimited compared to oil/gas) energy source. It would help the environment and make us less dependent on oil, which is getting more expensive and more scarce as the years go on. I would want to collaborate with scientists in the aerospace industry who are working on space power sources. They have a different thought process than the car companies, and maybe we could make a breakthrough with a non-traditional fuel/energy source.
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A: FROM STUDENT MEMBER FRANCISCA L. IN CA
I would spend it on research for a cancer cure. I would study how different treatments affect the patients. I think its very important to find a cure for cancer to save all the people that are dying from it. I would collaborate wiht different kinds of doctors and scientist from all over the world. I want a broad range of ideas and minds working together for a common goal. We would be working with cancer patients to reduce their pain and to give them hope.
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A: FROM MENTOR KRISTIN TAGHON IN IL
I recently met a woman who is a bio-engineer and has her own biotech
company! I believe if I received this grant, I would want to collaborate
with her. She has knowledge of how plants and different genes can be used
to create new drugs. She has also been a part of the new drive to create a
new process for preventing and detecting bioterrorism.

So, if I received a grant, I would want to work with her to set up the
process for detecting and preventing bioterrorism in the country.
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A: FROM MENTOR LORI KANE IN MA
I would love to spend some time discovering why young women lose interest
in math and science when they enter middle school. I would like to
research why this happens (do they lose confidence? are they afraid to
make mistakes? are the subjects taught in such a way that excludes them?
etc.) and I would like to put my programming background to use in creating
some type of program that will address what I find in the research. For
example, this may be some type of computer game that teaches young women
how computers work while also raising their confidence level and
encouraging them to try things and not worry about making mistakes. I
would collaborate with anyone who is interested and willing!
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A: FROM MENTOR MARTY CHINTALA IN RI
I think I would study renewable sources of energy that are
environmentally friendly. I think we are ruining our environment,
polluting, and causing damages that we may not fully understand for
years to come by burning oil, gas, and other fossil fuels. We are
fighting over oil reserves and wanting to dig up pristine areas of
wilderness so we can continue to release all kinds of substances that
are damaging our planet. Granted, we all use our cars and our heat, and
would be helpless without any of that. And we didn't know for a long
time what the hazards were that were associated with the burning of
these fuels. But we also cannot continue to destroy our land, air, and
water now that we know there are some hazards associated with these
fuels and their byproducts. Where I live, there are people fighting
over not wanting a wind farm for energy- the main reasons why are
because they don't want to look at it on their horizon and are afraid it
will impact their boating ability (then they secondarily mention impacts
to fish or birds which are not reliably substantiated). We are fighting
the use of renewable sources because it is inconvenient, will cut into
our profits, and because we are "nimbys" (not in my backyard). The
groups who are doing the most work in this field are the non-profit
organizations, because they are usually run by individuals who care
about the issue and are not driven by money to make a particular profit.
I would also collaborate with individuals from other countries (such as
the Scandinavian countries), who have embraced some of this technology
and made it work for their people.
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A: FROM MENTOR SHEILA ENGLAND IN PA
I would use the one million dollar grant to research autoimmune disorders
with an emphasis on women's health.

I just learned that my granddaughter has Hashimoto which is an autoimmune
disorder which affects every organ in the body. Because it affects the
thyroid and because thyroid levels can be measured, the hypothyroidism that
is a side effect is what is treated with synthroid. However, all the other
side effects are not treated. This disease is inherited and so when I was
tested, I dicovered that I have Hashimoto as does my one daughter and my
mother. Autoimmune disorders are difficult to treat but they affect the
quality of one's life in a multitude of ways. There is no cure. Therefore, I
would use the grant money to research autoimmune disorders with an emphasis
on women's health issues.
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A: FROM STUDENT MEMBER SYLVIA P. IN CA
If I were given a million dollars, I would use it in science, specifically bioengineering. I would study hypertension and the genes that cause it in order to find preventions. It is important to me because my whole mother's family suffers from hypertension. I once did research on it for my biology project and found that hypertension is one of the most deadly killers. This is so because its effects are not very noticeable, so this condition is often overlooked. I would like to collaborate with bioengineers (I believe "bioengineers" is what the people who perform genetic research are called, but I am not too sure,) in order to assist them in trying to figure out the gene that possibly can be altered to prevent the formation of the disease.