Amirali Banani engages in an 80-minute long conversation (still too short by all means, part 2 needed) with Rosario De Feo, a Medical Student at the University of Salerno in Salerno, Italy. A driven student with a passion for better understanding cancer and bridging the gap between discoveries in the lab and real-world patient care, Rosario is merging his research and clinical practice to making a positive impact on the lives of those affected by cancer in Italy and beyond. His impact goes beyond translational oncology and public health—his main specialties—as he is a leader in organizations like SISM (the Italian Association for Medical Students) aiming to transform medical education in Italy by exposing students to global opportunities that can take them to the next level of their careers.

Rosario joined Youth STEM Initiative earlier this year as a Researcher and is a founding member of our relatively new Italian Chapter. With SISM he’s helped organize the Global Research & Innovation Talks (GRIT) webinar series which multiple people from Youth STEM Initiative joined to hear from experts from a variety of STEM—particularly medical—fields and featured a presentation of YSI in its sixth episode. He also presented about Public Health and Prevention at STEM Quest 2.0 in June, a super insightful session which you can watch here!

A humble guy who deeply cares about making the lives of people better in his country and beyond. Rare in the modern world.

That’s only a surface-level intro. Watch the entire fourth episode of our new podcast at Youth STEM Initiative to learn more about Rosario and all the amazing things he’s doing in Italy and in the medical world!

Watch the third episode of Across STEM with YSI as Amirali Banani speaks with the inspirational Zoe Triantafyllidou⁠ to learn about her unique background growing up in Greece, what it’s like being a STEM-passionate high school student in Thessaloniki, her many passions outside of STEM, the research she’s doing in synthetic biology and its tremendous applications in agriculture, as well as all the projects she’s involved in to contribute to solving some of the world’s biggest problems—especially world hunger.

Zoe originally joined Youth STEM Initiative as a researcher and is now also the leader of our Greece Chapter. An ambitious student and an amazing scientific writer (here is one of her pieces on synthetic biology in vertical farming), Zoe is aspiring to dive deeper into the world of emerging tech with a thirst for knowledge and a drive to innovate to battle humanity’s biggest threats. Her passion for genetic engineering and innovations in synthetic biology—and how they connect to agricultural markets—has led her to projects redefining environmental sustainability and food production to aid poorer countries where hunger is prevalent. Never mind all the diplomacy and public speaking she does—you may even see her in the UN one day!

Already saving lives in high school and exploring scientific innovations that can sustain humanity in such a desperate age.

That’s just a surface-level intro. Watch the third episode of our new podcast at Youth STEM Initiative to learn more about Zoe and all the inspiring things she’s involved in!

In this episode of Across STEM with YSI, Amirali Banani engages in a captivating hour-long conversation with Christopher Lee, a neuroscience undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Chris shares his incredible journey from a childhood fascination with science to his current research in experience-dependent synaptic plasticity and neural circuit regulation through patch-clamp electrophysiology. Their discussion delves into the challenges and rewards of neuroscience research, highlighting the importance of curiosity and collaboration in scientific discovery and innovation. Chris also reflects on the evolving landscape of neuroscience education and the potential breakthroughs in neural regeneration and sensory restoration, while also providing his thoughts on America’s critical role in research at a time when it’s at stake.

Watch the entire episode to learn more about Chris, his research, and how he’s contributing to making a difference in neuroscience 🧠🎙️