Regeneron ISEF 2024 honorees include Indian Americans

May 20 ;
Among the distinguished winners in the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) were students of Indian American descent. Success in regional, state, or national science fairs qualified students in grades nine through twelve to represent their regions at Regeneron ISEF 2024.

A 17-year-old from Del Mar, California named Krish Pai was presented with a $50,000 Regeneron Young Scientist Award, the second such honour. Using machine learning, Pai created the Microby programme to find genetic sequences in microbes that can be altered to break down plastic. The software he developed was able to detect two bacteria whose altered DNA sequences had the potential to break down plastic at a rate he estimates might be ten times cheaper than conventional recycling methods. Other notable winners are 15-year-old Tanishka Balaji Aglave and 17-year-old Ria Kamat.

Florida resident Aglave won $10,000 in the H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research for developing an alternative to antibiotics in the fight against citrus greening, a disease that affects citrus orchards around the world. Injecting sick trees with an extract from the curry leaf tree is Aglave's (a Strawberry Crest High School student) strategy for sustainable disease management.

New Jersey resident Kamat was presented with a $5,000 Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award. Osteosarcoma is a primary bone tumour, and her work on its control has earned her recognition. Uneven bone development, which can cause cancer, was her main area of research.

As a result of his efforts to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide in agriculture, North Carolina resident Nikhil Vemuri received $5,000. An automated real-time prediction across several domains using a self-supervised quantum machine learning technique was awarded $2,000 to Shobhit Agarwal of Texas. Winners Karun Kulamavalavan of New York, Neel Ahuja of New Jersey, Atreya Manaswi of Florida, and Abhishek Shah of North Carolina each received $2,000 in prize money. Medha Pappula of Virginia also received $2,000 for her work in identifying ADHD in children at an early age.

Society of Science president and CEO Maya Ajmera sent her congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. That these extraordinary youngsters have showed such inventiveness and perseverance is truly inspiring. Their ability to unite in the face of adversity is inspiring, and I am immensely proud of these students from all over the globe and all walks of life and academic specialties.