WASHINGTON, March 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Society for
Science & the Public and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(NASDAQ: REGN) announced that Indrani Das, 17, of Oradell, New Jersey, won the top award in
the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation's oldest and most
prestigious science and math competition. Forty finalists,
including Indrani, were honored tonight at the annual Regeneron
Science Talent Search Awards Gala for their research projects
demonstrating exceptional scientific and mathematical ability,
taking home more than $1.8 million in
awards provided by Regeneron.
Indrani Das, 17, of
Oradell, New Jersey, won
the top award of $250,000 for
her study of a possible approach to treating the death of neurons
due to brain injury or neurodegenerative disease. A contributor to
neuron death is astrogliosis, a condition that occurs when cells
called astrocytes react to injury by growing, dividing and reducing
their uptake of glutamate, which in excess is toxic to neurons. In
a laboratory model, she showed that exosomes isolated from
astrocytes transfected with microRNA-124a both improved astrocyte
uptake of glutamate and increased neuron survival. Indrani mentors
younger researchers and tutors math in addition to playing the
piccolo trumpet in a four-person jazz ensemble.
Second place honors and $175,000 went to Aaron Yeiser, 18, of Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, for his
development of a new mathematical method for solving partial
differential equations on complicated geometries. Partial
differential equations are ubiquitous in science and engineering
and are currently solved using computers. He developed a more
efficient way to do this and applied it to the challenging field of
computational fluid dynamics. Aaron is a distance runner who
competes in cross country and track. During the summer, he teaches
sailing in Maine.
Third place honors and $150,000 went to Arjun Ramani, 18, of West Lafayette, Indiana, for blending the
mathematical field of graph theory with computer programming to
answer questions about networks. Typically, these questions
require statistical comparisons to hundreds or thousands of random
graphs, a process that can take a relatively long time. He
developed an algorithm that greatly accelerated the process by
reducing the time required to generate these graphs. Arjun is an
award-winning debater and accomplished tennis player and coach, and
also volunteers at a local science museum.
This year, Regeneron became only the third sponsor of the
Science Talent Search, following previous sponsors Westinghouse and
Intel. As part of its 10-year, $100
million commitment, Regeneron significantly increased awards
to better reward the nation's brightest young scientists and
encourage their continued pursuit of scientific innovation. In
total, this year's finalists received over $1.8 million in awards provided by Regeneron,
which distributed $3.1 million in
awards overall to Regeneron Science Talent Search 2017 finalists,
scholars and their schools. Regeneron is also supporting efforts to
increase nationwide student and school participation in the Science
Talent Search.
"Now more than ever, we need our nation's best and brightest
young minds to pursue their interest in science and use their
talents to solve our world's most intractable problems," said
Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of Society for Science &
the Public and Publisher of Science News. "I congratulate
our finalists, who are all poised to become our future scientific
leaders." Society for Science & the Public has organized and
produced the Science Talent Search since it was founded in
1942.
"Congratulations to the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2017 top
winners," said George D.
Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer of
Regeneron. "My experience as a Science Talent Search winner led me
to embark on a career in science, and I hope it will inspire these
exceptional young scientists to become the next generation of
innovators that will improve the world and solve some of our most
pressing challenges as a society."
Other top honors from the competition include:
Fourth Place: Byron Xu,
17, of Sugar Land, Texas, received
a $100,000 award for his examination
of marine seismic data – the reflections of sound waves – with the
goal of calculating ocean water temperatures in more detail than
current techniques allow.
Fifth Place: Archana
Verma, 17, of Jericho, New
York, received a $90,000 award
for her study of the molecular orbital energy dynamics of dyes,
which may someday result in windows that produce solar energy.
Sixth Place: Laura
Pierson, 17, of Oakland,
California, received an $80,000 award for her use of theoretical algebra
to study the representation theory of mathematically symmetric
groups.
Seventh Place: Prathik Naidu, 18, of Potomac Falls, Virginia, received a
$70,000 award for his creation of a
new machine learning software to study 3-D interactions of the
human genome in cancer.
Eighth Place: Ethan Novek,
18, of Greenwich, Connecticut,
received a $60,000 award for his
development of a new carbon capture process powered entirely by
abundant low-temperature waste heat.
Ninth Place: Vrinda Madan,
17, of Orlando, Florida, received
a $50,000 award for her study of 24
potential compounds for the treatment of malaria, in which she
found two potential candidates that appear to target the
disease-causing organism in a novel way and may warrant further
study.
Tenth Place: Stefan Wan,
17, of Wellington, Florida, received a $40,000 award for his development of a new
material to remove phosphate from wastewater and storm runoff and
then recycle it to enrich farm soil.
The remaining 30 finalists each received $25,000.
Of more than 1,700 high school seniors who entered the Regeneron
Science Talent Search 2017, roughly 300 were named scholars in
January. Of those scholars, 40 students were named finalists and
invited to Washington, D.C. to
compete for the top 10 awards, meet with national leaders and share
their projects with the public at the National Geographic Society.
These students join the ranks of other Science Talent Search alumni
who have gone on to receive more than 100 of the world's most
esteemed science and math honors, including the Nobel Prize and the
National Medal of Science.
About the Regeneron Science Talent Search
The
Regeneron Science Talent Search, a program of Society for Science
& the Public since 1942, is the nation's oldest and most
prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.
Each year, approximately 1,700 student entrants to the Science
Talent Search submit original research in critically important
scientific fields of study and are judged by leading experts in
their fields. Unique among high school competitions in the U.S. and
globally, the Regeneron Science Talent Search focuses on
identifying the next generation of scientists and engineers who
will provide critical leadership in solving some of the world's
most pressing challenges while shaping the future of research and
development for our nation and the world.
As part of its 10-year, $100
million commitment, Regeneron has significantly increased
awards to better reward the best and brightest young talent and
encourage their continued pursuit of scientific innovation.
Regeneron has nearly doubled the overall award distribution to
$3.1 million annually, and increased
the top award to $250,000. As a key
component of the Regeneron sponsorship, $30
million will be dedicated to supporting initiatives focused
on increasing outreach and equity for students across the United States to nurture their interest in
the sciences. This funding will support programming designed to
reach new and underprivileged communities, support teachers and
inspire more students to pursue science research and STEM
careers.
Program alumni include recipients of the world's most coveted
science and math honors, including eleven National Medals of
Science, four Breakthrough Prizes, eighteen MacArthur Foundation
Fellowships, two Fields Medals and twelve Nobel Prizes.
Distinguished Science Talent Search alumni include Society Trustees
Mary Sue Coleman (president
emeritus, University of Michigan),
Tom Leighton (co-founder and CEO,
Akamai Technologies), Paul Maddon
(founder of Progenics) and Frank
Wilczek (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), among many
others.
Intel was the title sponsor of the Science Talent Search from
1998-2016. For the first 55 years (1942-1997) of the Science Talent
Search, Westinghouse was the title sponsor.
Learn more at
https://student.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts and
https://medium.com/regeneron-science-talent-search.
About Society for Science & the Public
Society
for Science & the Public is dedicated to the achievement of
young scientists in independent research and to public engagement
in science. Established in 1921, Society is a nonprofit whose
vision is to promote the understanding and appreciation of science
and the vital role it plays in human advancement. Through its
world-class competitions, including the Regeneron Science Talent
Search, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and
the Broadcom MASTERS, and its award-winning magazine, Science News
and Science News for Students, Society for Science & the Public
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 Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Regeneron
(NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading science-based biopharmaceutical company
that discovers, invents, develops, manufactures and commercializes
medicines for the treatment of serious medical conditions.
Regeneron commercializes medicines for eye diseases, high LDL
cholesterol and a rare inflammatory condition and has product
candidates in development in other areas of high unmet medical
need, including rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, asthma,
pain, cancer and infectious diseases. For additional information
about the company, please visit www.regeneron.com or follow
@Regeneron on Twitter.
Media Contact at Society for Science & the Public
Gayle Kansagor
Phone:
703-489-1131
Email: gkansagor@societyforscience.org
Media Contact at Regeneron
Potoula Gjidija
Phone:
914-325-8813
Email: potoula.gjidija@regeneron.com
Media Contact at North of Nine Communications
Olivia Campbell
Phone:
646-384-2095
Email: Olivia.Campbell@nof9.com
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SOURCE Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.