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Each year, approximately 1,800 students enter the Regeneron STS, where they “submit original research in critically important scientific fields of study.” The organization said that the search is “unique among high school competitions in the U.S. and globally, Regeneron STS focuses on identifying, inspiring, and engaging the nation's most promising young scientists.”
Of the nearly 2,000 students that submitted research projects, judges narrowed the field to just 300, based on their research skills, commitment to education, innovate thinking and prospects as a scientist.
The 29 Hudson Valley students selected received $2,000 as well as their schools. From the pool of semifinalists, 40 will be chosen as finalists and invited to Washington, D.C in March for their final judgment. The finalists will be awarded at least $25,000 and the top 10 will earn between $40,000 and $250,000.
According to the judges, in 2017, Regeneron became only the third sponsor of the Science Talent Search, increasing the overall awards distribution to better reward the best and brightest young minds.
“Through its 10-year, $100 million commitment, Regeneron nearly doubled the overall award distribution to $3.1 million annually, increasing the top award to $250,000 and doubling the awards for the top 300 scholars and their schools to $2,000 each to inspire more young people to engage in science.
"For 57 years, the Science Talent Search was known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, or simply 'the Westinghouse.' At the 1939 New York World’s Fair, Westinghouse executive G. Edward Pendray and director of Science Service (now Society for Science & the Public) Watson Davis began discussing ways to encourage more students to pursue science careers. They decided on a national competition. Westinghouse agreed to provide prize money and cover administrative costs and Science Service took on the task of running the competition."
This year's local Regeneron scholar semifinalists and their research projects include:
- Ardsley
Alexandra Rivera: "A Step in Understanding Glacial Flow: Exploring the effects of entrained insoluble debris on mechanical properties of polycrystalline ice"
- Briarcliff Manor
Anna-Samsara Daefler: "Mesoderm formation and Nodal Signaling in Zebrafish Embryos and Blastoderm Explants"
- Byram Hills
Jonah Schwam: "Elucidating the Role of Muscle Stem Cell Correction in Regenerating Muscle in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: The Development of a Novel CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Gene Knock-in System"
Rachel Chernoff: "Characterizing the source of microglia proliferation following ischemic preconditioning"
Brent Perlman: "Human photosynthesis: Functional chloroplast sequestration in human mesenchymal stem cells"
Alessandra Colella: "Examining variability across neuropsychological test results as an indicator of post-treatment cognitive change in cancer patients over time"
Ethan Jacobs: "Optimizing and Applying Environmental DNA (eDNA) Detection Methods to Analyze the Presence of River Otters in the Northeast"
Alan Chang: "Utilizing a Novel Machine Learning Pipeline for Single-Cell Transcriptomic Characterization of a Remodeled Tumor Microenvironment"
Samantha Abbruzzese: "Examining the Role of Transcription Factors, Nr4a1, Foxp1, and Olig2, in the Development of Medium Spiny Neurons from the q175 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease"
- Chappaqua
Chirag Kumar: "A Machine Learning Approach to Estimating the Error in Satellite Sea Surface Temperature Measurements"
Anna Zhang: "Design and Analysis of an Artificial Intelligence Based System for Real-Time Detection of Texting and Driving"
Aditi Singh: "Descriptive and normative accounts of color localization performance in visual short-term memory"
- Croton-Harmon
Melissa Stok: "Printing the Path: Studying a Gelatin-Alginate Composite Hydrogel for Translation of 3D Bioprinting Research"
- Edgemont
Angie Jang: "Investigating the Role of Cell Cycle State During Convergent Extension in D. Rerio"
- Irvington
Annie Horowitz: "Elucidating new species of Distichopathes (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Hexacorallia: Antipatharia)"
Jacob Dunefsky: "WellPATH: A Mobile Application To Reduce Suicidal Ideation in Seniors"
- Katonah-Lewisboro
Heather Sherr: "The Correlation of Sodium Palmitate Acetate to Metabolic Memory via Reactive Oxygen Species in Hyperglycemic Neonatal Rat Ventricular Myocytes"
- Lakeland
Riti Bhandarkar: "Phylogenetics and diversification of Pipreola riefferii, an Andean fruiteater"
Jothi Ramaswamy: "A Machine Learning Approach to Classifying Brain Cell Types based on Functional Connectivity in the Primary Visual Cortex"
- Nyack
Lucy Jiao: "Strain Analysis of Al on a Variety of Semiconductors for Clean Superconductor-Semiconductor Interfaces"
- Ossining
John Sukumar: "Elucidating the Factors that Induce Hyperfocus in Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Through the Use of a Novel Time-Constrained Stroop Task"
Emma Montgomery: "Improved Base Editors and a Novel Sensor Assay Advance Gene Editing Technology"
Elliot Ocheltree: "Designing Aerodynamic Shapes through the Novel Combination of Computational Fluid Dynamics, Pressure Difference Minimization and Erosive Techniques"
- Pelham
Caitlin Wong: "Assessing the Plasticity of Pain Through the Lens of People with Limb Loss"
- Putnam Valley
Dora Rippon: "Determining the minimum mass of a habitable planet by studying atmospheric oxygen escape"
- Somers
Rachel Joseph: "Optimization of Thermal Hydrolysis for Increased Biogas Generation in Wastewater Treatment"
- Yorktown
Diane Yang: "Varying Aspect Ratios of Self-Sustaining Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters"
Sayli Satpute: "A Validation of Sepsis Prediction Scores for Poor Outcome"
Shrila Shah: "Improving Lung Cancer Treatment Planning and Delivery using an Artificially Intelligent Real-time Quantification of Lung Lobe Structures from CT"
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