High School Seniors Win $1.8 Million at Regeneron Science Talent Search 2024 for Innovative Scientific Research on Artificial Intelligence, Cancer Metabolism and Mathematical Optimization
March 12 2024 - 9:30PM
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:
REGN) and
Society for Science (the Society) announced that Achyuta Rajaram,
17, of Exeter, NH, won the top award in the Regeneron Science
Talent Search (STS) 2024, America’s oldest and most prestigious
science and math competition for high school seniors.
The competition, now in its 83rd year, has consistently
identified young innovators who become tomorrow’s STEM leaders. The
2024 finalists demonstrated extensive scientific knowledge through
research and interviews while showcasing their commitment to
addressing societal issues, passion for discovery, noteworthy
leadership and community involvement.
Forty finalists, including Achyuta, were honored this evening
during an award ceremony emceed by American Broadcaster Soledad
O'Brien. More than $1.8 million was awarded to the finalists, who
were selected from among the largest entrant pool since the 1960s
through a holistic evaluation process.
- Achyuta Rajaram won first place and
$250,000 for developing an automatic method to
discover which parts of a computer model are involved in
decision-making. This knowledge sheds light on what these
algorithms are “thinking,” which can help make them more effective,
fair and safe.
- Second place and $175,000 went to
Thomas Cong, 17, of Ossining, NY for investigating
the rapid growth of certain cancers and whether information
controlling metabolism is primarily controlled by the expression of
genetic information. He found that immune cancers have pronounced
differences in metabolism and gene expression, which suggests that
a more complex landscape of metabolic variation exists and gives
further insight into cancer studies.
- Third place and $150,000 went to
Michelle Wei, 17, of San Jose, CA for finding that
second-order cone programming problems can be solved more quickly
than previously thought by converting the original problem into a
modified form. Problems of this type appear frequently in areas
ranging from supply chain optimization to electrical power
distribution to financial portfolio management or machine learning,
and she hopes her research may lead to process optimizations across
various industries.
“Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Regeneron Science
Talent Search,” said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO, Society for
Science and Executive Publisher, Science News. “The remarkable
intellect and ingenuity of these students serves as an inspiration
for us all. Their groundbreaking innovations are vital in
uncovering the crucial solutions we need now to address our most
intractable challenges.”
The Regeneron Science Talent Search empowers young people who
are passionate about innovation and using scientific discovery to
contribute to improving our world. By providing a national stage to
present new ideas and challenge old ways of thinking, the
competition encourages and rewards a culture of idea sharing,
critical thinking and continuous improvement. It also serves as a
catalyst to discovering sustainable solutions to the world’s most
pressing challenges. The judging panel considers how these research
endeavors, innovative thinking and leadership qualities demonstrate
the students’ potential to become future leaders in critical STEM
fields.
“Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Regeneron Science
Talent Search and to all the brilliant finalists,” said George D.
Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., co-Founder, Board co-Chair, President and
Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, and a top winner in the 1976
STS. “My own participation in the Science Talent Search during my
high school years sparked a lifelong commitment to science and set
me on my path of inventing and developing new medicines for
previously untreatable diseases. Our finalists are only beginning
their journeys, and their extraordinary achievements at such a
young age give me hope that they will go on to deliver major
innovative breakthroughs that will greatly benefit humanity.”
Other top honors from the competition include:
- Fourth Place: Nathan Wei, 17, of Gainesville,
FL received a $100,000 award for developing a more
sustainable way to create strong and durable plastic polymers that
are also recyclable. He believes this approach should also work
with biologically based raw materials, which would make the process
even more sustainable.
- Fifth Place: Zeyneb Kaya, 17, of Saratoga, CA
received a $90,000 award for creating a natural language processing
algorithm, similar to ChatGPT, that could help preserve endangered
languages. She found a way to enhance the small training datasets
of lesser-known languages by creating accurate translation pairs of
words to generate grammatically correct sentences.
- Sixth Place: Christopher Zorn, 17, of
Irvington, NY received a $80,000 award for investigating
the relationship between RET, a gene involved in cellular signals,
and MYC, a set of genes that regulate cell growth and death. He
created genetically altered lung cancer cell lines, exposed them to
various drugs and measured the MYC protein levels, which appeared
at elevated levels and were shown to lead to treatment resistance.
His findings suggest paths for further drug research targeting both
RET and MYC.
- Seventh Place: Ella Pilacek, 17, of Oviedo, FL
received a $70,000 award for researching ways to teach non-native
honeybees how to pollinate an endangered native species of orchid.
By mixing the compounds of the flower’s scent with a sugar solution
that bees naturally love, Ella was successfully able to train the
bees to be attracted to the scent, potentially making increased
pollination and species survival more likely.
- Eighth Place: Selina Zhang, 18, of Annandale,
NJ received a $60,000 award for designing and
field-testing an eco-conscious, A.I.-powered artificial tree that
uses machine learning to selectively lure, identify and kill the
destructive and invasive spotted lanternfly. Her eco-friendly
prototype tree cost her just under $200 to build and she hopes it
may be a useful tool in controlling invasive species.
- Ninth Place: Arnav Chakravarthy, 18, of Cupertino,
CA received a $50,000 award for comparing the genetic
origins of a type of immune cell, known as macrophages, in the
brain, liver and bone marrow to learn more about how they replenish
themselves. Most cells could be traced back to their embryonic
beginnings, however, Arnav found evidence that certain brain cells
may also be replenished from our bone marrow as we age. His
findings may shed light on future targeted therapies for
age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s.
- Tenth Place: Alan Bu, 17, of Exeter,
NH, received a $40,000 award for a math project that gave
precise limits on how many spanning trees a planar graph can have.
A spanning tree is the connecting point of vertices in a graph. His
key insight was to connect the spanning tree counting problem to a
separate problem in linear algebra, a different field of math,
which he could then attack. His results shed light on the structure
of planar graphs.
- Aditi Avinash, 17, of Highlands Ranch, CO, was
named the Seaborg Award winner and given the opportunity to speak
on behalf of the Regeneron Science Talent Search Class of 2024. The
40 finalists chose Aditi as the student who most exemplifies their
class and the extraordinary attributes of nuclear chemist Glenn T.
Seaborg, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1951 and served
on the Society’s Board of Trustees for 30 years.
All other finalists received $25,000. All 40 finalists will join
the ranks of other STS alumni, many of whom have gone on to have
world-changing careers in STEM fields, and some of whom have earned
the most esteemed honors in science and math, including the Nobel
Prize, National Medal of Science and MacArthur Foundation
Fellowships. In total, Regeneron awarded $3.1 million in prizes
through the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2024, including $2,000
to each of the top 300 scholars and their schools.
Learn more about Regeneron Science Talent Search at
https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/.
For media resources, visit
https://www.societyforscience.org/2024-regeneron-science-talent-search-media-kit.
About Society for Science Society for Science
is a champion for science, dedicated to promoting the understanding
and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human
advancement. Established in 1921, Society for Science is best known
for its award-winning journalism through Science News and Science
News Explores, its world-class science research competitions for
students, including the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and the Thermo
Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, and its outreach and
equity programming that seeks to ensure that all students have an
opportunity to pursue a career in STEM. A 501(c)(3) membership
organization, Society for Science is committed to inform, educate
and inspire. Learn more at www.societyforscience.org and follow us
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (Society4Science).
About Regeneron Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a
leading biotechnology company that invents, develops and
commercializes life-transforming medicines for people with serious
diseases. Founded and led for over 35 years by
physician-scientists, our unique ability to repeatedly and
consistently translate science into medicine has led to numerous
FDA-approved treatments and product candidates in development,
almost all of which were homegrown in our laboratories. Our
medicines and pipeline are designed to help patients with eye
diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer,
cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, hematologic conditions,
infectious diseases and rare diseases.
Regeneron believes that operating as a good corporate citizen is
crucial to delivering on our mission. We approach corporate
responsibility with three goals in mind: to improve the lives of
people with serious diseases, to foster a culture of integrity and
excellence and to build sustainable communities. Regeneron is proud
to be included on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the
Civic 50 list of the most “community-minded” companies in the U.S.
Throughout the year, Regeneron empowers and supports employees to
give back through our volunteering, pro bono and matching gift
programs. Our most significant philanthropic commitments are in the
area of early science education, including the Regeneron Science
Talent Search and the Regeneron International Science and
Engineering Fair (ISEF).
For more information about Regeneron, please visit
www.Regeneron.com or follow Regeneron on LinkedIn.
Media ContactsJoseph Brown,
Regeneron386-283-1323, joseph.brown2@regeneron.com
Gayle Kansagor, Society for
Science703-489-1131, gkansagor@societyforscience.org
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