While one Eastern student is trying to develop an anti-tumor drug, another is researching treatment for children with speech impediments, but both students were awarded for their work at Friday’s Sciencefest.

Diana Davis, a junior chemistry and biology major, and Pamela Davidson, a graduate student, were awarded Friday for their projects. Whereas Davis took on the project for a summer job, Davidson researched her project to help her land a job.

Davis worked during the summer of 2001 with Bob Chesnut, assistant chemistry professor at Eastern. He started the project hoping to build a compound that would be useful against breast cancer by the end of this year.

Davidson began her thesis for speech pathology in the Fall of 2000 and finished the final product in the Fall of 2001. Before Friday’s Sciencefest, she presented the results of testing two different methods of treatment for children with speech errors at a national and state convention.

Davis was awarded for her work on Chesnut’s project to build a compound designed to fight breast cancer; however, she merely worked on the project as a summer job.

The work began in the summer of 2000, and their goal is to build a compound of platinum and estrogen in hopes that it will kill breast cancer cells. Davis said there is still much work to be completed and although all steps to the project have been successful thus far, there is no certainty that the project can be completed.

However, she said there is a possibility the compound will prove successful.

“It looks right now as though it will work,” she said. “A whole bunch of things could still go wrong.”

Davis took on the work for a summer job in 2001 and will continue to work with Chesnut this summer as well.

“I think it’s awesome; it’s just fun,” she said. “It’s neat that something like this is being done at a college level.”

Her plans for post-graduation involve studying both water in streams and rivers as well as large cats, bears and wolves.

On a different subject, Davidson was awarded for her testing of children at Carl Sandburg Elementary School to prove which method will be better speech therapy for students with speech problems. The children received either 40 minutes of the traditional method of treatment or 40 minutes of the the newer alternative for speech pathology.

Her thesis stemmed from a larger project that she completed and once she researched the topic and found there was no adequate information on the two methods, it sparked her interest to test children and provide that research.

“I’m trying to open up the aspect that it’s an option,” Davidson said. “Everybody has been amazed.”

The results of the testing proved that children who received the alternative, collaborative speech therapy made larger gains on testing because there was a group of students in therapy who helped one another, as opposed to the traditional, pull-out therapy of one-on-one, student and teacher, method without other students in the session.

“There’s that possibility that it’s better for some,” she said. “You have to look at what’s best for the student.”