April 30, 2021 SHARE
Welcome back to Class Acts, a celebration of the Class of 2021. This week, we celebrate three graduating students who are leaders in research Churchill Scholar Jessika Baral, Spencer T. Olin Fellow Chelsey Carter and U.S. Army veteran Alex Reiter.
Jessika Baral leverages her expertise in biology and computer science to advance cancer research. (Photo: Joe Angeles/Washington University)
It started back in middle school, when Jessika Baral got glasses and her dad was struggling with his cataracts.
“He suggested that we do eye exercises together,” Baral recalled. “Middle-school Jessika was not down for that.”
So she engineered a sort of sombrero festooned with LED lights. By following the blinking lights, users could strengthen their eye muscles. The results were so impressive, Baral was invited to the White House Science Fair, where she met her hero, Bill Nye.