Winners From Regional Competition Move on to National Finals in
Washington, D.C.
Sanjana Rane (Prospect, Ky.) Wins Top Individual Honors; Robert Luo
and Helen Zhang (Dallas) Win Top Team Honors
Months of research and preparation in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) fields paid off for three students named National
Finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology after
earning top spots in Region Two. Sanjana Rane of Prospect, Ky.
earned top individual honors and a $3,000 scholarship for research
discovering new ways to detect and treat renal fibrosis. A study on
novel therapy for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) earned Robert
Luo and Helen Zhang, both of Dallas, the $6,000 shared team
scholarship and spots in the finals of the nation’s premier research
competition for high school students.
The students presented their research this weekend to a panel of judges
at The University of Texas at Austin, host of the Region Two Finals. The
top winners now move to the final round to present their work at the
National Finals in Washington, D.C., December 4-8, 2015, where $500,000
in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.
The Siemens Competition, a signature program of the Siemens Foundation,
is administered by Discovery Education.
“The quality of submissions this year is incredibly impressive,” said
David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation. “This is really
graduate-level work conducted by high school students to improve the
lives of people around the globe. We’re proud to further that cause.”
The Winning Individual for Region Two
Sanjana Rane, a senior from duPont Manual High School in Louisville,
Ky., won the individual category and a $3,000 scholarship for her
project entitled, “Effects of the Environmental Pollutant Acrolein on
Renal Fibrosis.”
Sanjana’s research has helped discover how a particular protein could be
used to detect and treat renal fibrosis, preventing its progression into
end-stage renal disease – an incurable total failure of the kidneys.
“Sanjana identified and presented a novel role of a protein that could
vastly change the way we’re able to detect and treat kidney fibrosis
before it progresses to life-threatening kidney disease,” said
competition judge Alan Lloyd, Professor of Molecular Biosciences at The
University of Texas at Austin. “The time and commitment made to
reforming and retesting her hypotheses advanced her findings and their
clinical application – which are traits of a great scientist.”
An interest in pursuing medical research arose for Sanjana when she read
a national newspaper story which ranked Louisville, her hometown, as one
of the worst air quality cities in the United States. Sanjana began
looking into the dangers of air pollution and learned about the chemical
acrolein, which is found in both cigarette and industrial smoke and can
cause kidney damage. As she delved further into the research, she began
to focus on how to shift the chemical’s influence on the kidneys using a
particular protein as a therapeutic target.
Looking forward to a potential career, Sanjana is interested in pursuing
medicine and practicing regenerative medicine to explore how to use stem
cells to treat diseases like cancer, multiple sclerosis and ALS.
Beyond academics, Sanjana starts at outside back for her high school’s
soccer team and mentors kindergarten students at a local elementary
school.
Sanjana’s mentor is Shunying Jin, research associate at the University
of Louisville.
The Winning Team for Region Two
Robert Luo and Helen Zhang, both of Dallas, won the team category and
will share a $6,000 scholarship for their project entitled, “A Novel
Therapy for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.”
The team identified a new potential target for the treatment of acute
myeloid leukemia, the most common adult acute leukemia and a
life-threatening disease. The combination of family experiences with
cancer and the science of the topic piqued Robert and Helen’s interest
in tackling this project and bringing the world one step closer to
solving the global problem of leukemia.
“Acute myeloid leukemia is a remarkably difficult cancer to treat, which
makes Robert and Helen’s research results that much more valuable,” said
competition judge Jason Upton, Assistant Molecular Genetics and
Microbiology Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. “New ideas
and approaches to treatment are critically important. The direction of
Robert and Helen’s results is intriguing and provides a solid foundation
on which to build.”
Robert Luo, a junior at Highland Park High School in Dallas, serves as
the project team lead. He is an Academic Decathlon participant, a tutor
to underserved children and violinist in the Dallas Asian-American Youth
Orchestra (DAAYO). Robert aspires to become a physician, computational
chemist or software engineer. In college, he plans to major in
chemistry, biology and/or computer science.
Helen Zhang, a senior at Highland Park High School in Dallas, has been
recognized as a National Merit Commended Scholar, recently co-authored a
piece published in Nature and took ninth place in a policy debate
at the Texas University Interscholastic League State Cross-Examination
Debate tournament. Helen co-captains the Highland Park High School
Debate Team, spends time volunteering at the University of Texas (UT)
Southwestern Medical Center and practices taekwondo.
The team's mentor is Dr. Mi Deng, postdoctoral researcher at the UT
Southwestern Medical Center.
Regional Finalists
The remaining regional finalists each received a $1,000 scholarship.
Regional Finalists in the individual category were:
-
Neha Narayan, Friendswood High School, Friendswood, Texas
-
Edward Park, Las Cruces High School, Las Cruces, N.M.
-
Anirudh Suresh, St. John’s School, Houston
-
Jovan Zhang, Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos, N.M.
Team Regional Finalists were:
-
Arjun Guru and Maya Guru, The Altamont School, Birmingham, Ala.
-
Priyanka Konan and Ritika Bharati, Hamilton High School, Chandler,
Ariz.
-
David Xiang, Westwood High School, Austin, Texas; Eric Li, Clements
High School, Sugarland, Texas and Amber Lu, Texas Academy of Math and
Science, Denton Texas
-
Shoshana Zhang and Colleen Dai, Texas Academy of Mathematics and
Science, Denton, Texas
The Siemens Competition
Launched in 1998, the Siemens Competition is the nation’s premier
science research competition for high school students. Nearly 4,000
students registered for this year’s competition and a total of 1,781
projects were submitted for consideration. 466 students were named
Semifinalists and 97 were named Regional Finalists. The students present
their research in a closed, online forum, and entries are judged at the
regional level by esteemed scientists at six leading research
universities which host the regional competitions: Georgia Institute of
Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute
of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Notre Dame and
The University of Texas at Austin.
For news and announcements about the Regional Competitions and the
National Finals, follow us on Twitter @SFoundation
(#SiemensComp) and like us on Facebook at Siemens
Foundation. A live webcast of the National Finalist Awards
Presentation will also be available online at 11 a.m. EST on December 8
at www.siemens-foundation.org.
Interviews, video and photos available by visiting http://siemensusa.synapticdigital.com/US/Siemens-Foundation.
The Siemens Foundation
The Siemens
Foundation has invested more than $90 million in the United
States to advance workforce development and education initiatives in
science, technology, engineering and math. The Foundation’s mission is
inspired by the culture of innovation, research and continuous learning
that is the hallmark of Siemens’ companies. Together, the programs at
the Siemens Foundation are helping close the opportunity gap for young
people in the U.S. when it comes to STEM careers, and igniting and
sustaining today’s STEM workforce and tomorrow’s scientists and
engineers. Follow the Siemens Foundation on Facebook
and Twitter.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital
content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with award-winning
digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional development, and the
largest professional learning community of its kind. Serving 3 million
educators and over 30 million students, Discovery Education’s services
are in half of U.S. classrooms, over 40 percent of all primary schools
in the UK, and more than 50 countries. Discovery Education partners with
districts, states and like-minded organizations to captivate students,
empower teachers, and transform classrooms with customized solutions
that increase academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by
Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one
nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of education
at www.discoveryeducation.com.
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