Ten Regeneron Science Competition Scholars Had SBU Mentors
Three students were among the 40 named Talent Search finalists
Ten high school students who worked with faculty mentors from Stony Brook University were among the top 300 scholars in the national 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search (Regeneron STS) competition — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.
The semifinalists were selected from an applicant pool of 2,162 applications from 712 high schools across 46 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and ten other countries.
Three of the 40 Talent Search finalists announced on January 24 were mentored by Stony Brook faculty and staff.
Julianne Wu of Irvine, CA, was mentored by Iwao Ojima, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry in Stony Brook’s College of Arts and Sciences through the Simons Summer Research Program. Vincent Huang of Syosset, NY, was mentored by Michael Dudley, professor and graduate program director, and Balaji Raghothamachar, research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Sophie D’Halleweyn of the Bronx, NY was mentored by professor Anatoly Frenkel in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, and postdoctoral researcher Prahlad Routh.
Finalists will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards during a week-long competition in Washington, DC, taking place March 6-13.
Several semifinalists are alumni of Stony Brook University’s Simons Summer Research Program, which teaches high school students how to conduct college-level research. Since 1997, nearly 600 semifinalists have been mentored by faculty at Stony Brook.
The following are this year’s Stony Brook faculty mentors:
Iwao Ojima, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, and Director, Institute for Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, worked with Julianne Wu, University High School, Irvine, CA, on “Sex-Related Signaling of the Angiotensin II Pathway in Primary Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells”
Michael Dudley, professor and graduate program director, and Balaji Raghothamachar, research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, worked with Vincent Huang from Syosset High School, Syosset, NY, on “A Smart Computer Program LauePt4 for Recognizing and Simulating Laue Patterns and Its Applications”
Anatoly Frenkel, professor in the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering and postdoctoral researcher Prahlad Routh worked with Sophie D’Halleweyn from Bronx High School of Science in Bronx, NY, on “Alleviating the Energy Crisis: A Novel Multi-Task Machine Learning Algorithm for Designing Efficient Nanocatalysts To Reduce Industrial Energy Impact”
Christopher Gobler, Distinguished Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, worked with Aidan Cazalet from Saint Anthony’s High School, Melville, NY, on “Examination of the Effects by a Salinity and Temperature Gradient on Microcystis aeruginosa Morphology: A Keyence Fluorescence Microscope Analysis”
William Holt, Professor, Department of Geosciences, worked with Bradley Kelton, Ward Melville High School, East Setauket, NY, on “Geochronologic and Dynamic Constraints on the Topographic Evolution and Critical Mineral Deposits of the Southwestern United States”
Sangeet Honey, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, worked with Richard Wong, Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, Plainview, NY, on “Temporal Phage Therapy: A Strategy for Managing MRSA Resistance Utilizing Bacteriophage Sb-1”
Benjamin Hsiao, Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, worked with Gracelynne Hao, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, Bridgewater, NJ, on “Green Synthesis of Black TiO2 Nanoparticles: A Promising Candidate for Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Water Decontamination”
Eric Jones, Executive Director, Laser Teaching Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, worked with Angelika Wang, Cary Academy, Cary, NC, on “Construction of Modified Speckle Optical Tweezers for Horizontal Particle Trapping in Air”
Ji Liu, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, worked with Eric Tang, River Hill High School, Clarksville, MD, on “Building Redundancy for Resilient Distributed Optimization”
Benjamin Martin, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, worked with Rohan Dalal, Johns Creek High School, Johns Creek, GA, on “Neuromesodermal Progenitor Cells Give Rise to Blood Through a Myoblast/Hemangioblast Bipotential Intermediate”
About the Regeneron STS
The Regeneron Science Talent Search, a program of the Society for Science since 1942, is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. Each year, more than 2,000 student entrants submit original research in critically important scientific fields of study and are judged by leading experts in their fields. Unique among high school competitions in the U.S. and around the world, the Regeneron Science Talent Search focuses on identifying, inspiring and engaging the nation’s most promising young scientists who are creating the ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges.