Jack Rheney ’23 need not look any further than the American Medical Association to see his path.
The AMA states on its website that “getting research published at any stage of your career is vital to a physician's development. Having your research published aids in establishing you as an expert in your field of study.”
Therefore, Jack is well on his way as his piece, “Using CRISPR in the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease” is in the latest high school edition of the Journal of Student Research. Jack spent last summer in the lab doing research for the paper.
CRSPR is an acronym that stands for Clustered Regularly interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and is a technology that can be used to edit genes. The FDA approved the use of CRSPR in clinical trials to correct the genetic defect causing sickle cell disease in 2021.
Jack will attend the University of Virginia after graduation for Christ School’s Class of 2023 on the morning of May 21. He is a Day Student Proctor from Asheville, AP Scholar, a member of the National Honor Society and Head of School High Honor Roll, and a past winner of the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
His advisor, Olga Mahoney, said in introducing Jack for his Senior Speech on March 29 that he has impressed the faculty with his intellectual curiosity and depth of knowledge since his freshman year.