Harrison High School Students Named Regeneron Scholars For 2020

HARRISON, NY — Two Harrison High School students are among a total of 34 Hudson Valley seniors who were named Scholars (or semifinalists) in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2020.

The local Scholars (see what they researched further down) are:

• Sara Mc Sweeney
• Nasia Meimeteas

There were 300 students total, selected from the 1,993 students who entered the competition this year. Each of the Scholars will receive a $2,000 reward, and their schools will also receive $2,000.

"Congratulations to all 300 scholars from this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search and welcome to a network of exceptional student leaders and innovators," said Hala Mirza, senior vice president of corporate communications and citizenship at Regeneron. "We are thrilled to recognize and honor these students for the many contributions they are making to the STEM community and our broader society. With such a wide array of interests and high-quality work, we are eager to follow their progress in the years to come."

On Jan. 22, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists. They will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in March, when they will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards provided by Regeneron.

Here's the list of all the Hudson Valley scholars:

• Sam Aberman, 17, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, Project Title: Facilitation of an orthogonal IL-2 system for CAR T cell therapy through the novel knockout of the human IL-2 gene
• Takaharu Araki, 17, Edgemont High School, Scarsdale, Project Title: PDK Inhibition Selectively Sensitizes Hyperactive mTORC1 MEF Cells Under Hypoxia
• Henry Asa, 17, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, Project Title: Deriving the Value of Cryptocurrencies Through an Analysis of 95 Global Currencies
• Isha Brahmbhatt, 17, Ardsley High School, Ardsley, Project Title: Removal of Rare Earth Metal Ions from Contaminated Water by Sustainable Carboxycellulose Nanofibers Derived from Agave through Nitro Oxidation Process
• Holly Cheng, 17, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, Project Title: Modulating Fetal Globin Levels Using CRISPR/Cas9 in an in vitro Mouse Cellular System
• Snehal Dubey, 17, Yorktown High School, Yorktown Heights, Project Title: The Application of Computer Algorithms for the Diagnosis of Eye Diseases Using Fundus Images
• Jake Egelberg, 17, New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, Project Title: Flagella-Mediated Antibiotic Persistence: A Scientific Enigma
• Massimo Fante, 17, Briarcliff High School, Briarcliff Manor, Project Title: A New Method To Target and Degrade Transmembrane Proteins Inside the Cell
• Rishit Gupta, 17, Irvington High School, Irvington, Project Title: Error Correction using a Repetition Code on the 14 qubit IBMQ Melbourne Quantum Computer
• Gil Halevi, 17, Briarcliff High School, Briarcliff Manor, Project Title: Important Groups First: Encouraging Disentanglement in Variational Autoencoders
• Hammad Hassan, 17, Ossining High School, Ossining, Project Title: Targeted inhibition of a novel MALT1 and MAPK signaling network synergistically suppresses aggressive B cell lymphoma growth
• Maeve Janecka, 17, Somers High School, Lincolndale, Project Title: Analysis of Heavy Metal Concentrations in JUUL® Electronic Cigarette Vapor Based on Vaping Topography Identified from a Survey of Young Adults
• Tess Kaplan, 17, Sleepy Hollow High School, Sleepy Hollow, Project Title: Increasing Emotional Intelligence in Typically Developing Students and Students with Developmental Disabilities
• Spencer Karp, 17, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, Project Title: A step towards energy efficient infrastructure: A weakly supervised approach to energy signal labeling in commercial buildings
• Michelle Lin, 17, Ossining High School, Ossining, Project Title: Characterizing Predictors of Galactic Habitable Zone Parameters: Planetary Magnetism as an Indicator of Habitability
• Jessie Liu, 17, Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, Project Title: Developing and Evaluating a Novel Retinoblastoma Staging Application
• Samantha Livingston, 17, Sleepy Hollow High School, Sleepy Hollow, Project Title: Using the Identification of Diseases Caused by a Change in Phosphorylation State to Identify the Signaling pathway of BRAF V600E mutation
• Andrew Lu, 17, Yorktown High School, Yorktown Heights, Project Title: Mobile RGBD-based Situational Awareness Aid for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Merry Mayers, 17, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, Project Title: An evaluation of network-informed disease transmission parameters for the California puma population
• Sara Mc Sweeney, 17, Harrison High School, Harrison, Project Title: Increasing the Desiccation Tolerance of Eragrostis tef through Exogenous Application of Abscisic Acid to Ensure Food Security
• Alexa McGrath, 18, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, Project Title: An investigation of the medicinal value of the baboon diet: A comparative study across five species and six study sites
• Nasia Meimeteas, 17, Harrison High School, Harrison, Project Title: Predicting the Relationship between Marriage and Discussion of Women’s Issues in Congressional Representatives: A Multiplicative Interaction Model Approach
• Alanna Moskowitz, 18, Yorktown High School, Yorktown Heights, Project Title: The Role of Secondary IDH2 Mutations in Drug Resistance and Cancer Development
• Aidan O’Neil, 17, Blind Brook High School, Rye Brook, Project Title: Effect of municipal wastewater effluent on downstream disinfection byproducts and nutrients
• Carolina Pedraza, 17, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, Project Title: Heightened anxiety in children and adolescent with tic disorders
• Kenny Poor, 17, Fox Lane High School, Bedford, Project Title: Implementation and Refinement of Oscillometric Finger Pressing Cuff-less Blood Pressure Measurement on Mobile Phones
• Caroline Reed, 17, Ossining High School, Ossining, Project Title: North Atlantic Minke Whales Exhibit Spatially Varied Vocal Responses to Ambient Noise and a Novel Paradigm for Passive Acoustics Research
• Nicole Rosenzweig, 17, Blind Brook High School, Rye Brook, Project Title: The Impact of a Colic Diagnosis and an Educational Intervention on Adult Caregiving Decisions, Perceptions, and Emotional Responses to a Crying Infant
• Owen Skriloff, 17, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, Project Title: An in vitro evaluation of the relationship between stress and mineralization through the use of a piezoelectric barium titanate composite
• Vikesh Subramanian, 17, Ossining High School, Ossining, Project Title: Exfoliation of graphite cathodes improves cycling performance of aluminum-ion batteries
• Lara Tomescu, 17, Ossining High School, Ossining, Project Title: Shifting Environmental Conditions Affect the Onset of Phenological events in Acer rubrum
• Maho Toyomura, 17, Eastchester High School, Eastchester, Project Title: Gene editing in ALDH2 for a potential cure for alcoholism
• Sophie Vernik, 17, Yorktown High School, Yorktown Heights, Project Title: Spreading Depolarizations as Preconditioning to Post-Stroke Neuronal Death
• Jiahe Yan, 17, Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, Project Title: Detection of t(9;22)chromosome translocation using Deep Residual Neural Network

Find and “Like” Hudson Valley Patches' Facebook Pages.