About

About this Project

This web site has been created for the Student Biotech Expo. The Biotech Expo is similar to a science fair, but allows much more diversity in its topics and presentations. For my project, I decided to do a web site for the bleeding disorder, Hemophilia A.

I first heard of hemophilia when I was in elementary school. I saw the animated movie Anastasia, and became completely obsessed with her story. I checked out tons of books about the Romanov Dynasty and looked through the many pictures on the internet. I then stumbled on the fact that Anastasia's brother, Alexei, had hemophilia. Back then, I thought that bleeding was the scariest and worst thing in the world. Thus, I remembered the disorder ever since.

However, now that I have researched Hemophilia A and gone over its treatments, I realize how treatable and normal a hemophiliac's lifestyle can be. This epiphany has been the purpose and reason behind the making of my web site. I would like hemophilia patients and the public alike to understand the great development of hemophilia throughout history and the science behind it. I attempted to explain Hemophilia A in a way for everyone to understand. I also tried to add more than just typical information about the genetic disorder, by giving information about structure and lifestyle. My hopes in creating this web site is to just inform the public about this often overlooked disorder, and provide hope for those severely afflicted by it.

 

Mentorship

For the Biotech Expo, my classmates and I were assigned advisors who helped us through this gargantuan project. My advisor was Mike Weinstein, and he was a huge help to my project. Throughout this whole process, Mike gave me advice, read over my work, helped me with resources, and so much more. He even managed to get me a tour at Amgen (this is where Mike works), one of the most interesting and memorable experiences that I have had with this project. Working with an advisor has made this web site much more personal and fun. My mentor improved my web site as well as my determination. Without his help, who knows what state my project would be in. So I just wanted to give Mike a much appreciated, “Thank you!”