Jasmine Roberts leaves high school with 6.5 GPA; heading to Johns Hopkins

Curing cancer is still on Jasmine Roberts’ to-do list.

The recent Tampa high school graduate made national news in 2006 for her science project titled "How Safe is Fast Food Restaurant’s Ice?’’

The project, which found that fast food restaurants’ ice contained more bacteria than toilet water, earned her an appearance on "Oprah’’ in addition to Good Morning America, Inside Edition, CNN and Fox News.

The 18-year-old graduated from Wharton High School this spring with a 6.5 grade point average and is on track to fulfill her goal – to become a neurosurgeon. She will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall. The Maryland-based school is one of the world’s top universities in science, medical and engineering research.

"I chose Johns Hopkins University because they will offer me the opportunities I need to receive an outstanding education. Johns Hopkins is number one in science and medicine, which is a plus. I intend to major in neuroscience,’’ Roberts told the Courier.

"Curing Alzheimer’s disease is a big goal of mine. Overall, my life goal is to make a difference in society by advancing science."

Consistent science fair winner

In May, Roberts won second place in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Los Angeles. The fair is the world’s largest pre-college science fair. She competed against 1,500 plus science projects from the U.S., Canada and more than 60 other countries. She brought home more than $12,000 from the competition.

For the past seven years, she also was a consistent top winner in local, state and regional science and engineering fairs. This year, her science project was titled "Monocytic Gene Cell Therapy: Potential Treatment For Alzheimer’s Disease."

She is conducting "cutting edge" technology research at the University of South Florida Johnny Byrd Alzheimer’s Center under the mentoring of Dr. Marcia Gordon. Roberts has been conducting research investigation on a treatment for Alzheimer’s for the past four years.

More FL Courier