Aakash Setty (11) wakes up early in the morning to catch the train to Chicago. After the 45-minute train ride, he arrives at the Northwestern Shah Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (TEAM) Lab, where he spends a long day working with leading scientists in the country. He goes around pitching new ideas, conducting experiments, and researching 3D tissue and organ printing. After a 9.5-hour day of work, he finally leaves, ready to come back the next morning.

Setty’s research on 3D organ printing has been written into an article that will soon be published in the Frontiers Biomaterials journal. The journal features articles about bioengineering, biotechnology, and molecular biosciences. 3D organ printing is a fairly new field involving tissue design and engineering. Setty and his lab partners have created a new and approved method of engineering these tissues. He has spent many hours of research and experimenting towards the project, and even contributed to writing parts of the article.

“The best thing about my research experience was that I knew inside that I was at the forefront of this technology. I was directly aiding in this effort to save millions of lives,” said Setty. “This is one of the greatest developments in the past few centuries in the field of science and medicine.”

Setty has been interested in the field of medical science for most of his life, and his passion stems from his Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor. “I could feel the contentedness of the field. There was a great satisfaction to be earned from serving other people,” said Setty. His goal is to help and make others happy with his medical service.

“He is very inquisitive, curious, and focused. He has an interest in a lot of topics. Aakash is a very talented individual. He’s going to accomplish anything he sets himself out for,” said Setty’s AP Biology teacher, Mr. Bomgaars.

Setty also founded The Future Medical Professionals of America club at VHHS, last year. He started this club with the goal in mind of inspiring other students to pursue medical careers. Setty organizes and leads the club, providing the students with different activities and plans. He plans sessions with different medical professionals at their biweekly meetings. There are talks about what a medical career is like and interactive labs to allow the students to practice clinical skills.

Setty stays current with the science world. He has participated in many different science and math competitions, and started working at Energy Concepts Inc., a laboratory textbook company, when he entered high school. This has been a key component in bringing him closer to his medical dream, becoming a doctor.

“He has been very involved and has studied a lot of things on his own just because he has that scientific curiosity about him,” said Zak Baumann (11), Setty’s friend since first grade. “He is always looking to learn more information.”

After high school, Setty wishes to continue his research with Northwestern. In college, he wants to continue working in tissue engineering. He would be happy to do undergraduate work contributing to this field. He will be continuing research at the Shah TEAM Lab this summer and can’t wait to see what else they could accomplish.

“Being a doctor is my childhood dream, and I’m so far sticking to it. Medicine is the field of service. People often revere it as the closest you can be to God, as a healing figure. A person to help others become better,” said Setty.