Schools
Exceptional Palos Verdes Student To Receive $10K Scholarship
Milken scholar Abigail Maemoto's work in STEM is already changing lives.
Press release from the Milken Scholars:
June 28, 2021
Eleven Los Angeles-area Milken Scholars will receive $10,000, including Abigail Maemoto. Her work in STEM is already changing lives. When an assistant principal at Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) was diagnosed with leukemia, Abbie became a student ambassador for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, raising $85,000 for research by organizing a community cancer walk and soliciting corporate sponsors.
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To tackle gender and socioeconomic disparities in science, Abbie founded BiomediGirls, a student-run organization with an integrated social networking platform which offers access to free online courses and connects students with scholarships to participate in research internships. Recruiting STEM professors from Stanford, Yale and other universities as guest speakers, Abbie designed a six-week introductory course and a four-week series on science advocacy, hosted a research competition, and mentored 100 students from 14 states and four countries in research projects.
The organization now includes a newsletter, a podcast, and 20 branches in schools across the country and abroad. Sales of her self-published children’s book “What Is So Special About an Unspecialized Cell?” have funded six scholarships for students from low-income communities to attend a hands-on stem cell research program.
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The Milken Scholars, a joint initiative of the Milken Institute and the Milken Family Foundation, has chosen 11 talented students from Los Angeles for its 2021 scholarship program after a rigorous nomination, application and interview process.
Open to college-bound high school seniors in Washington, D.C., New York City and Los Angeles County, Milken Scholars are selected based on academic performance, community service, leadership and their ability to persevere in the face of personal challenges. Past recipients include inaugural poet Amanda Gorman; Ruben Harutunian, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, Belarus; Dr. Joelle Simpson, chief of emergency medicine at Children’s National Hospital; and award-winning entrepreneur and author Ali Kriegsman.
This press release was produced by the Milken Scholars. The views expressed here are the author's own.