Gilmour Academy Freshman Authors Research Paper

SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH — Asya Akkus is a freshman at Gilmour Academy. She's also the author of a new paper published in the International Journal of Current Research, an open access, peer-reviewed online journal.

"It shows that even an intern can make a difference in the scientific/managerial community, however small," Akkus said of getting her first single-author paper published.

Being part of the class of 2021, and hailing from Shaker Heights, Akkus also sampled some finance and economics classes at Case Western Reserve University and Coursera. Those experiences prompted her to write a paper on how dentistry can be integrated into the general healthcare system to improve quality of care and save costs.

Akkus spent a big chunk of time writing the paper. Her entire summer and the first part of her semester was spent creating the manuscript and then getting it published. She made use of Case Western's library to access scientific databases.

Akkus said her science teacher Jeff Klein's physics class “brought home the scientific method and the analytical tools used in scientific inquiry.”

Akkus also said science instructor Neena Goel as an inspiration, particularly because Goel motivated her to "persevere" after the article was initially rejected.

The paper was blind peer reviewed by three reviewed and will be referenced in the PubMed database.

Amazingly, this is Akkus' third paper, but her first as a single-author. Her other two papers were published with her as part of a research team.

Big dream come hand-in-hand with big accomplishments. Akkus wants to become the CEO of a hospital after he received both her MD and MBA.

Photo from Gilmour Academy