Local Students Recognized in Prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search
By Dianne Noh
The Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition, recognizing 300 scholars each year for their exemplary independent research projects. From these scholars, 40 finalists are selected to compete in Washington, D.C., at the Regeneron Science Talent Institute. This year, the competition saw 2,471 entrants from across the country.
Among the 300 scholars, 49 students hailed from Long Island schools, including five from Herricks High School and one from Wheatley High School. Each scholar received a $2,000 award, with an additional $2,000 granted to their school.
Local Honorees and Their Research Projects:
Serena Chen (Herricks) – The Novel Involvement of Peroxisomal Beta-Oxidation During Mitochondrial Inhibition in Catecholamine-Stimulated Acyl-Coenzyme A Oxidase 1 (ACOX1) Knockout White Adipocytes
Shannon Hong (Herricks) – Leveraging Machine Learning to Reveal the Impacts of Light Pollution on Suboscine Birdsong Characteristics Extracted From the Xeno-Canto Database: A Principal Component Analysis
Caitlin Lee (Herricks) – In vitro Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron JN.1 Subvariants with Spike S31 Deletion and Their Evasion of COVID-19 Therapies
Alaina Pinto (Wheatley) – Visualizing the Impact of Interleukin-32 on Tight Junction Integrity and Nuclear Morphology from Glioblastoma Metastasis in Human Endothelial Cells
Sandeep Sawhney (Herricks) – Gallium Mediated DNA Tensegrity Triangle Based Crystals: A Novel Prototype Facilitating Gallium Cancer Therapy
Armaan Vaswani (Herricks) – The Novel Effect of Veratrin on Cellular Viability and Apoptotic Proteins in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy
A National Finalist from Herricks
Among these six scholars, Sandeep Sawhney (Herricks High School) was named one of 40 national finalists. He will compete at the Regeneron Science Talent Institute in Washington, D.C., from March 6-12, 2025, for awards of up to $250,000.
Congratulations to these exceptional students on their remarkable achievements!
Photos courtesy of Wheatley School District & Herricks School District.
