33 Hudson Valley Students Named Regeneron Scholars For 2021

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021 were announced Thursday by the Society for Science, and 33 of the scholars go to school in Westchester and Putnam counties.

The 300 scholars and their respective schools will be awarded $2,000 each.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search is the nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, according to a spokesperson.

The scholars were selected from 1,760 applications received from 611 high schools across 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and 10 countries. They were chosen based on their exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists, and hail from 198 American and international high schools in 37 states, Puerto Rico, Chinese Taipei and Singapore.

In the Hudson Valley, there were 33 Scholars chosen for 2021.

• Elizabeth Chun, Ardsley High School. Project Title: Combating Familial Alzheimer's Disease: A Study of Resveratrol's Effects on a Presenilin Model of Drosophila melanogaster

• Marie-Hélène Tomé, Ardsley High School. Project Title: On the Use of Statistical Measures and Density Maps Generated from CT Scans for the Detection, Classification, and Monitoring of COVID-19 Cases

• Malik Bradford III, Ardsley High School. Project Title: Exploring Novel Regulators of Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) Stress Through Cell Signaling and Unsupervised Machine Learning Methods

• Mia Dittrich, Byram Hills High School. Project Title: Epigenetic Editing of Cdk5 Leads to Sexually Dimorphic Stress Responses

• Olivia Canter, Byram Hills High School. Project Title: Birds of a Feather Age Together: Telomere Dynamics and Social Behavior Predict Lifespan in Female Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica)

• Ali Hafez, Byram Hills High School. Project Title: Using Artificial Neural Networks to accurately simulate Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors

• Raquel Kanner, Byram Hills High School. Project Title: How do Others Perceive Me? An Exploration of the Influence of Self-Disclosure Statements on Viewer Perceptions of Emerging Adults who Stutter

• Jared Ilan, Byram Hills High School. Project Title: Modulus of Elasticity of the Ideal Decellularized Plant Material Scaffold for the Production of Cultured Meat

• Bailey Goldstein, Byram Hills High School. Project Title: Investigating Differences in the Relaxation of Non-Photochemical Quenching and its Implications for Crop Photosynthetic Efficiency

• Jack Sendek, Briarcliff High School. Project Title: Interactive Multiple Model Filter for Inertial Sensor Drift Correction in GPS-Denied Target Drone Waypoint Flights

• Lori Saxena, Horace Greeley High School. Project Title: Circadian Process in Prostate Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes

• Alexandra Fitzgerald, Horace Greeley High School. Project Title: Standardization of Plastic Particle Extraction and Analysis from Seafloor Sediment

• Tyler Burden, Harrison High School. Project Title: Evaluating the Effects of Dance Improvisation on Brain Activity Using a Battery Cognitive Tests

• Christian Spadini, Harrison High School. Project Title: Political Geographical Bias in Congressional House Elections: A Quantitative Analysis of the Real Gap Between the Popular Vote and Electoral Outcomes

• Sean Reichbach, Somers High School. Project Title: Does the American Political System Harm United States Representative Democracy?

• Victor LaVaglia, Ossining High School. Project Title: Open Office Noise Disrupts Worker Focus, Satisfaction, and Perception of their Productivity: A Quasi-Experimental Field-Study

• Nicole Camilliere, Ossining High School. Project Title: Year-Long Salinization of Groundwater and Surface Waters of Hudson River Watersheds due to Chronic Road Salt Application

• Michael Pavelchek, Ossining High School. Project Title: Swap70 and Myc Promote Sequential Switching to High Affinity IgE in Allergic Asthma

• Leela Roye, Ossining High School. Project Title: Race vs. Emotion: Evaluating Which is the More Predominant Bias When Using an Attentional Task

• Linlee Mangialardi, Ossining High School. Project Title: Reciprocal Synthesis and Degradation of Trehalose and Glycerol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Analysis Using a Consensus Genome Scale Metabolic Model

• Charles Brown, Ossining High School. Project Title: The Validation of Electrodermal Activity as an Objective Measurement of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents

• Meagan Ryan, Ossining High School. Project Title: Discovering Long-Lasting Novel Epigenetic Mechanisms Associated with Cocaine Addiction: The Role of the SWI/SNF Remodeling Complex in the Nucleus Accumbens

• Sam Savitt, Blind Brook High School. Project Title: The Suitability of Vibration Data Loggers for the Development of a Condition-Based Maintenance System for Aircraft and Rotorcraft Operations

• Maya Weitzen, Sleepy Hollow High School. Project Title: High-Throughput Discovery and Validation of Cancer-Testis (CT) Antigen and Neoantigen HLA-Presented Peptides in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinomas (NSCLC)

• Niharika Bhattacharjee, Yorktown High School. Project Title: Digital Dental Triage: Automated Digital Diagnosing System for Dental Cavities Using Artificial Intelligence

• Scott Weitman, Yorktown High School. Project Title: Emotional and Social Impact of Autoimmune Diseases

• Owen Dugan, Dugan Homeschool. Project Title: Astronomy Will Not Trail Off: Novel Methods for Removing Satellite Trails from Celestial Images

• Celeste Paerels, Hastings High School. Project Title: Up in Smoke: Recent Influences on Adolescent E-Cigarette Usage

• Sam Singer, Horace Mann School. Project Title: Discovery of Eight Pathogenic Genetic Mutations Correlated with Poor Prognosis in African American and Hispanic Patients

• Hayden Housen, Pawling High School. Project Title: Lecture2notes: Summarizing Lecture Videos by Classifying Slides and Analyzing Text

• Emma Silverman, Putnam Valley High School. Project Title: Examining Differences in Blood Calcium, Phosphorus, and T4 Levels in Various Breeds of Canines: A Study on its Association Between the Age of Spay/Neutering, and Osteopathic/Neurological Diseases

• Alliyah Steele, Putnam Valley High School. Project Title: A Visual Cortex Examination: Familiarity and Selective-ROI BOLD signal Differences Between Scenes and Objects, Behaviorally and Neurologically

• Rebecca Monge, Carmel High School. Project Title: Polar Amplification in CMIP6 Models: Projections, Mechanisms, and Regional Patterns

The Regeneron Science Talent Search provides students with a national stage to present original research and celebrates the hard work and discoveries of young scientists who are bringing a fresh perspective to significant global challenges. This year, research projects cover topics from bioinformatics to public health and energy efficiency.

Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of Society for Science, said the scholars represent a hopeful outlook for the future.

“At a time when many students’ educational experiences are being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am incredibly humbled to see gifted young scientists and engineers eager to contribute fresh insights to solving the world’s most intractable problems,” she said.

On Jan. 21, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists. From March 10-17, all 40 finalists will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards provided by Regeneron.