Meet the Godwin HS 'Research Twins' who are making STEM education more accessible

Identical twins Avani and Bhoomika Kaur, known to students and teachers at Mills E. Godwin High School as “The Research Twins,” have a deep passion for science.

Since they were in elementary school, Avani and Bhoomika have always had a fascination with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Their parents exposed them to STEM education very early on, starting with small DIY science experiments like making a baking soda and vinegar eruption in a paper mache volcano.

Now rising seniors at Godwin High’s Center for Medical Sciences, the Kaur twins have advanced from paper mache volcanoes to conducting their own nationally-recognized scientific research.

This past spring, both placed among the top-15 finalists in the chemistry and biomedical sciences categories at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, with Avani earning third place overall. The twins also presented their original research to the U.S. Department of Defense.

But not all young students in Henrico have easy access to STEM education, despite many Henrico students having the passion for and interest in STEM.

“I feel like in our local community, there are a lot of young minds who are very interested and curious about various STEM topics, but their families don’t have the resources to help ignite that curiosity,” said Avani. “If more people have the opportunity to pursue their own questions and their own curiosities, it would really help them become better academically, but also personally as a human being.”

Last year, Avani and Bhoomika launched their own STEM education program, Osmosis STEM, and began hosting workshops throughout the Henrico area for elementary and middle school students. They also partnered with local organizations, such as Henrico County’s 4-H youth development program, to reach more students who have less access to STEM education.

“One of the main reasons that we started Osmosis STEM was so we could give other students the opportunity to be exposed to STEM and research from a young age, just like our parents did with us by trying to get us to be inquisitive and pursue our questions,” said Bhoomika. 

The workshops focus on making STEM fun and engaging for students, with activities such as building lung models or extracting DNA from strawberries. Having interactive and hands-on activities may not seem that important, but it ensures that all students get the same benefits and positive learning experience, said Avani.

“We try to make it interactive and fun, and I feel that really helps individuals from all backgrounds,” she said. “So even those kids who may not be completely sure about whether they want to go into STEM, they can at least gain that exposure. And because the kids find it to be really fun, they talk to their friends and try to get more people to come with them.”

Avani and Bhoomika also have taken Osmosis STEM to a global level. By partnering with international organizations, they have been able to establish Osmosis STEM chapters in Kenya, Ghana, India, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada. 

During this past year, Osmosis STEM has also helped launch “Project EmpowerMed,” a health education initiative in Kenya that has helped educate more than 500 people on topics such as HIV/AIDS, maternal mental health, non-communicable diseases, and nutrition. 

“We were able to basically bridge science education and real-world impact over to that community,” said Avani. “As part of Osmosis STEM, we were just trying to ensure that no one is left behind in their STEM journey, either locally or internationally.”

Through Osmosis STEM, Avani and Bhoomika said they have been able to bring STEM education to more than 1,300 people both in the local area and globally, most being younger students. 

The twins also have continued conducting their own STEM research – a pastime that earned them their “Research Twins” title at Godwin.

Avani, who placed third in the chemistry category at the national JSHS competition, has dedicated her research to new therapy that could potentially slow or prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Not only does one of her family members suffer from Alzheimer’s, Avani also said she met other patients with Alzheimer’s while volunteering at a hospice, prompting her to spend a lot of her free time on researching the disease. 

“The majority of our family suffers from various illnesses, like cardiovascular and neurodegenerative illnesses, and for me, I really wanted to try to do something to help them out,” Avani said. “Especially because science is such a vast study and there are so many innovations occurring every day.”

Bhoomika was inspired to do research after volunteering at St. Mary’s Hospital, where she met a patient who was battling metastatic prostate cancer. She spent much of her summer break in the wet lab conducting experiments on prostate cancer progression – a painstakingly long but rewarding experience.

For Avani and Bhoomika, STEM research is not just a potential career, but also something that has helped them grow as people and leaders.

“I feel like research has been one of the main things that have helped me personally develop over the years,” Avani said. “It develops critical thinking and resilience, especially because research has so many different obstacles and hardships and unexpected outcomes. So it really teaches you how to make the most out of a situation and have a growth mindset.”

But the twins remember just how difficult it was to get involved in college-level research, with both having to email hundreds of university professors before finally being admitted to research labs at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond. 

For many ninth- and tenth-graders at Godwin’s Center for Medical Sciences, who are required to complete their own research during high school, Avani and Bhoomika have hosted several introductory workshops on how to conduct original STEM research, write scientific papers, and present at state or national conferences. The twins also have opened up some of the workshops to other local high-schoolers in the area.

Despite the large amount of time and effort it takes to host so many different STEM workshops, the twins see Osmosis STEM as their passion project. The two hope they can continue expanding the program to more students.

“We’re identical twins who are just in love with science, STEM, and research,” said Bhoomika. “We are both so passionate about bridging the gap in STEM education. We have a lot of the same interests, so we try to do things together to help impact individuals.”

“We’re hoping to just continue hosting dynamic hands-on workshops for students from all different backgrounds, so that we can spark their curiosity and their creativity, as well as just their overall confidence in science and themselves,” said Avani. “We really aim to not only teach these students about science, but we also want to ignite a lasting passion and resilience, not just for STEM, but to help them become leaders in whatever field they go into.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.