Junior to Present Research at International Conference

Khosla's award-winning research explores how antibiotics should be administered to eradicate bacteria. For instance, giving antibiotic A might cause the bacteria to evolve so that antibiotic B can kill it. Conversely, giving antibiotic B first might cause the bacteria to evolve in a way where it can’t be killed.

Khosla will explain his findings, “The Effect of Neutral Spaces in a Markov Chain Model of Bacterial Evolution,” June 15-19 at the 9th European Conference on Mathematical and Theoretical Biology in Gothenburg, Sweden. The annual international gathering promotes theoretical approaches and mathematical tools in biology and medicine.

Khosla’s research, which expands work done for his STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine) project, was conducted with Daniel Nichol and Dr. Jacob Scott, both PhD candidates in mathematics at the University of Oxford in England.

The connection occurred because Scott, a radiation oncologist and cancer theoretician, is a 1994 Hawken School graduate who pioneered Hawken’s STEMM program. For Khosla, he also provided inspiration.

“Two of my friends’ fathers died from cancer,” Khosla said, “and when Dr. Scott said he wanted to attack cancer from a different, mathematical modeling viewpoint, I became consumed by the concept.”

“I have been impressed by Kush’s willingness to push himself and use his creative talents to advance our work as an integral member of our research team,” Scott said. “I remain impressed by the way Hawken School encourages students to leverage their education in creative exploration of important topics.”

Khosla’s recognition at the international level follows a series of awards garnered at last month’s Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair, where 600 students from more than 80 schools competed for more than $20,000 in prizes. Khosla won the First Place Grand Award in Math and Computer Science, along with additional awards from Intel Corp. and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

“I am very thankful for my mentors and the ‘experience everything’ environment provided by Hawken School,” he said. “I am looking forward to continuing my research in a university environment.”