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Local high school academic superstar wins prestigious University of Alberta internship

Navdeep Badhan works in a lab at the University of Alberta. Navdeep Badhan works in a lab at the University of Alberta.
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An Edmonton teen has earned the unique opportunity to learn the ropes of working in a university laboratory, before he even started his undergraduate degree.

Eighteen-year-old Navdeep Badhan won this year's Brain Bee neuroscience and mental health trivia competition and with it, a summer internship to work in a research lab at the University of Alberta.

"Just before entering high school my biology teacher introduced a competition called the Brain Bee and I've been taking part in the Brain Bee since Grade 9," Badhan said. "That's when I realized that since is something that I'm really passionate about."

The student extraordinaire has also taken part in history competitions, winning the Canadian National History event and others in New Jersey and New York, as well as publishing articles and participating in security council simulations.

"I represented the U.S. in a fast-paced security crisis committee (in a 1991 United Nations simulation)," Badhan added. "I learned so much more about history and the vast amount of lessons we've learned from our historical mistakes and events."

The past summer, he's worked in Joanne Lemieux's lab studying proteins involved in disease. While it was a big learning jump from high school to working in a university graduate-level lab, Badhan says he welcomes the challenge.

"In high school, my labs were typically 99 per cent of the time successful," he told CTV News Edmonton. "Here, I was sort of really surprised when I was told the opposite number. Ninety per cent of the time, things don't work out as you expect."

Getting the opportunity to experience working in a lab before even attending university is important, Badhan says, as it is helping inform his choice of degree.

"Starting young is really important in this case because the earlier you do, the earlier knowledge you have regarding this field," he said. "(Plus), I actually have a headstart when it comes to operating many of the lab equipment."

Lemieux explained that after winning the Brain Bee trivia competition, Badhan had the choice of choosing what lab to do a six-week internship in.

"It's a really great experience in the lab," Lemieux said. "It may seem daunting at first, you come into a lab where you don't know how to do anything. However, we really take steps to slowly introduce them and show them the lab environment.

"Then quickly you see just how confident they become," she said, adding that Badhan has since worked up to having the confidence to work independently.

After recently graduating from high school, Badhan now has his sights set on completing his undergrad and is debating between a master's in biochemistry or going to medical school.

"There's still time," he said. "There could be lots of different career options you could choose, but for right now, those two are in my mind."

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