Six Jericho seniors were named Intel semifinalists recently, the highest amount from any Long Island school, while Syosset named five semifinalists.
A total of 300 students nationally were named semi-finalists.
The following Jericho students are the semifinalists, listed with the title of their project:
Michael Carrion, Identification of Toll-like Receptor 4 as a Novel Biomarker in Type 1 Diabetes Pathogenesis; Jessica Huang, Redefining the Neurological Basis of Fluid Intelligence: Investigating Network Strength and Normalized Degree of Resting State Functional Connectivity; Uma Kanth, HIV Utilizes the SNAI1 Repressor Complex to Downregulate P-Cadherin: Implications for HIV Associated Nephropathy; Hyein Kim, Examining the Role of a Novel TSHR Variant, TSHRv1.3, and Elucidating the Signaling Pathways of the TSHR; Brian Oh, Reconciling the Process-based Projection Method with the Semi-empirical Method for Accurate Future Projections of Sea Level Change; and Rishi Shah, Collagen Microfiber Scaffolding for Nerve Repair Applications.
The nation’s oldest pre-college science competition, has been searching for the brightest minds for the last 75 years.
Each Intel Science semifinalist receives a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation with an additional $1,000 going to his or her school, resulting in $600,000 in total semifinalist awards.
The competition overall awards $1.6 million to provide the opportunities and resources that students need to become the next generation of inventors, entrepreneurs, and STEM professionals.
“The Science Talent Search celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Our alumni over the past three quarters of a century have gone on to successful STEM careers and to achieve top honors and recognition in their chosen fields,” said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of Society for Science & the Public and publisher of the Science News media group. “As a fellow alumna, I’m thrilled to congratulate the 300 semifinalists and welcome them to the Intel STS family. They are the next generation of innovators, and we look forward to witnessing the impact they will have on making the world a better place.”
Meanwhile, Syosset High School students Alexandra Chan, Daniel Hirsch, Rachel Kang, Joshua Katz and Benjamin Senzer have been named national semifinalists in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition. Of the 300 semifinalists, 44 were selected from Long Island schools, with Syosset garnering the second-highest total of selections in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our students and their teachers, who work so hard to make their success a reality,” said Syosset High School Principal Dr. Giovanni Durante. “To submit to Intel is a major accomplishment in and of itself, but to be selected as a semifinalist is truly extraordinary. This is a true honor for the entire Syosset community.”
Chan was selected for her research that supports the hypothesis that greater variation in DNA sequences caused by sexual reproduction is beneficial to the evolution of organisms. Hirsch’s research demonstrates that correlations exist between business success and different characteristics of the founders of Fortune 1000 companies. Kang researched solar energy solutions for operating the Long Island Rail Road. Katz examined TSP2 proteins that are found to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels, and LOX, which has been linked to promote metastasis of malignant tumors, in the treatment of cancer. Senzer assessed the negative effects of pollutants in marsh biomes by studying microscopic organisms taken from shells collected from Tobay and Crab Meadow beaches.
Each semifinalist receives a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation, with an additional $1,000 going to his or her school. There were 1,750 entrants from 512 high schools in 43 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and six American and international high schools overseas. On Jan. 20, 40 finalists will be named.
