5 Indian American High School Students Among 40 Regeneron Science Talent Search Finalists
- They were selected by a national jury of professional scientists from a pool of 300 scholars, who were announced earlier this month.
Five Indian Americans are among the finalists in this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. The competition, now in its 82nd year, celebrates and rewards young scientists focused on a wide range of scientific topics from the space race to the AIDS epidemic to climate change.
Ambika Grover, Neel Moudgal, Ishika Nag, Lavanya Natarajan and Siddhu Pachipala are among the 40 finalists chosen based on their projects’ scientific rigor and their potential to become world-changing scientific leaders, Society for Science said in a press release.
Finalists were selected by a national jury of professional scientists from a pool of 300 scholars, who were announced earlier this month. The scholars were chosen from a pool of over 1,900 highly-qualified entrants, all of whom completed an original research project and extensive application process.
“We are thrilled to welcome this inspiring and highly talented class of Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists,” said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of the Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News. “I am certain these extraordinary students will be following in the footsteps of our many accomplished alumni who are at the forefront of breakthrough discoveries. The 2023 finalists will be using their leadership, intellect, creativity and STEM skills to solve our world’s most intractable challenges.”
Finalists will participate in a week-long competition in March in Washington, D.C., “during which they will undergo a rigorous judging process that goes beyond their own research to encompass other scientific disciplines and compete for more than $1.8 million in awards,” the press release said. They will also have an opportunity to interact with leading scientists and share their research during a virtual “Public Day” event on March 12. The top 10 Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023 winners will be announced during an awards ceremony on March 14.
Indian American finalists include:
Ambika Grover, 17, Greenwich High School, Connecticut. (Project Title: Design of a Novel, Dual-Functioning, Tissue Plasminogen Activator and Factor XI-Inhibiting Anticoagulant Therapeutic for Rapid Ischemic Stroke Treatment.)
Neel Moudgal, 16, Saline Area High School, Michigan. (Project Title: Using Unassigned NMR Chemical Shifts To Model RNA Secondary Structure.)
Ishika Nag, 17, Oviedo High School, Florida. (Project Title: Development of an Engineered Face Mask With Optimized Nanoparticle Layering for Filtration of Air Pollutants and Viral Pathogens.)
Lavanya Natarajan, 17, Viera High School, Florida. (Project Title: A Prescriptive IoT Solution To Detect and Mitigate Fugitive Methane Gas in Landfills via a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System.)
Siddhu Pachipala, 18, The Woodlands College Park High School, Texas. (Project Title: SuiSensor: A Novel, Low-Cost Machine Learning System for Real-Time Suicide Risk Identification and Treatment Optimization via Computational Linguistics.)