Honorees

Derrick Manzlak, December 2009

Derrick Manzlak was awarded the Captain David Brown Aerospace and Medical Research Endowment on December 4, 2009. The following is the application from this exceptional applicant.

List activities with which you are or have been involved and describe your level of involvement.

International Medicine Club
Obtained $83 thousand dollars of medications from the Catholic Medical Missions Board (CMMB) for the yearly Honduras mission (2008)
Reapplied for donation from the Catholic Medical Missions Board (CMMB) (2009)

Camp Bruce McCoy
Camp counselor and personal care attendant for a two week camp for traumatic brain injury survivors hosted by The Brain Injury Association of Virginia.

Project S.M.I.L.E.
Big Buddy for a pediatric oncology patient at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters and his family.

Knights of Columbus
Third Degree Knight

Boy Scouts of America
Eagle Scout
Order of the Arrow – Brother
Venture Scout
Medical Explorers

Describe previous experiences supporting your interests in aerospace and medical research.

Two years ago I completed a Masters thesis in Chemistry at the College of William and Mary. My thesis "Enriched Boron-10 Additives in Textile Polymers for Neutron Shielding" investigated solutions to mitigate neutron radiation exposure in aerospace applications. Currently protection from neutron radiation is not provided by conventional radiation shielding materials, thus the need for a method of protection from this dangerous ionizing radiation is great. The energy of neutrons is typically quite high and their small mass allow them to be highly penetrating and ionizing, additionally the lack of charge makes shielding difficult. The ionizing nature of neutrons and other ionizing radiations causes damage to cells and intracellular molecules. The damage induced can range from cellular death to carcinogenesis. As advances in technology and transportation are made, individuals are often exposed to potentially dangerous environments. Airline passengers are unknowingly exposed to increased radiation as they travel at high altitudes. High energy research experiments aimed at discovering fundamental properties of nature often generate a large amount of radiations. Astronauts and spacecraft are subjected to large doses of numerous types of radiation in the space environment. Efficient shielding materials are needed to protect against the deleterious effects of radiation.

In my research I developed a polymer fiber filled with boron-10 (an isotope of boron), which has a strong affinity for neutrons. This fiber was woven into a flexible fabric and was able to attenuate a thermal neutron flux 30% greater than the unfilled polymer fabric control.

This research was the first to attempt to develop a fabric material for neutron radiation protection. It showed that by using specific compounds to fill polymer fibers it is possible to shield against neutron radiation using a thin cloth material rather than the standard paraffin brick, which has quite limited applications. This research was performed at NASA Langley under a NASA grant with Dr. Richard Kiefier at William and Mary and Dr. Sheila Theibeault in the Advanced Materials and Processing Branch at NASA.

Indicate why you feel that you are particularly well qualified for this scholarship designed to honor Captain David Brown.

My interest in medicine has continued to grow since collage when I worked as a Scribe in the Williamsburg Emergency Department while attending William and Mary. Working in the ER I have had the opportunity to witness almost every specialty in medicine. My current advisor with whom I work in the ER with, is a subspecialist in Underseas and Hyperbaric medicine. This exposure in conjunction with emergency medicine has stimulated my interest in preventative medicine. In looking at aerospace medicine as a sub-specialty I have found that it fits well with my foundation in chemistry and physics and integrates this with what I am learning about physiology and pathology. It was an area of medicine I was originally unaware of but when these topics arose in physiology class, I was quite interested in learning more of the medicine involved in extreme environments and how the pathophysiology changes in different environments. I have since been considering joining the Navy, so as to pursue a specialty in aerospace medicine.

My curiosity in the sciences and my desire to utilize my knowledge in the service of others has lead me to pursue an education in medicine. My interest in polymers and my fascination in aerospace has lead me to do research at NASA not only in my masters research but also as an undergraduate for three years and even in high school where I did research on polymers for solar sails at NASA. I feel that I have that same thirst for knowledge and exploration that Captain David Brown must have had and it would be an honor to receive this scholarship.