Sophomore publishes research paper

Dedication and support were vital for Richard Wang ’26 when he decided to write a research paper with the goal of having it published. With mentorship from St. Mark's biology teacher Dr. Dan Lipin and physician Dr. Thomas K. Swoboda, Wang researched the connections between ethnicity and breast cancer screening. His final paper, "Breast cancer mammographic screening by different guidelines among women of different races/ethnicities," was published in the August 2023 issue of the Journal of Emerging Investigators. 

 

“I wanted to do a research paper because many of my peers did a lot of research, especially in the clinical field, and I want to be a doctor,” Wang said. “I believe that this research is beneficial, and I’m passionate about it.” 

 

Wang started the process last year by selecting a broad subject matter—cancer—with an extensive public database of information to analyze. Dr. Swoboda provided statistical guidance and access to software and tools that helped process the data for Wang to study. Wang then contacted his eighth-grade teacher, Dr. Lipin, to ask for his mentorship when writing the paper. 

 

“It’s a very different relationship between the teacher and student than a mentor and student,” Dr. Lipin said. “The mentor relationship became much more established with the back and forth of writing a research paper. I enjoyed it.” 

 

During his freshman year, Wang would write and present his paper to Dr. Lipin for feedback, a process that took eight to 10 rounds of review. Wang became an expert in the material he presented. 

 

“I refused to accept anything unless I could understand exactly what he said,” Dr. Lipin said. “The fact that I didn’t know anything about statistics forced Richard to understand the material to the point that he could teach somebody else.” 

After combing through the data, Wang concluded that "Our findings support other studies’ results that different racial/ethnic and socio-demographic factors can affect screening adherence."

The thorough process paid off when Wang finally submitted the paper to the publication, whose edits were minor. 

 

“Their changes were mainly just switching things around for the format of their journal,” Wang said. 

 

With his first paper published, Wang has plans to continue analyzing and writing research papers in the future. 

 

“Richard has already sent me his next paper,” Dr. Lipin said. “He’s so much better now with his understanding of how to write.” 

 

You can read the published research paper here.