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Del Norte High School seniors Aarav Arora and Jocelyn Chan are among the top high school science students in the country.
Arora is one of 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. He will now compete to win up to $250,000. The prize is part of more than $1.8 million in prize money to be distributed during an expense-paid competition to be held in Washington, D.C., March 6-13.
This contest is a program of the Scientific Society and was founded in 1942. The contest is billed as “the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.”
Arora, 18, made it to the finals and won a total of $27,000, including $2,000 for making the top 300 and $25,000 for being announced as a finalist. He said he planned to use the money for college expenses.
“I was surprised on both levels because I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Arora said. “While I was writing my college application, the deadline for submitting it was approaching, so I thought I could have taken more time. But it’s been a very busy few months.”
Arora said she found out about her top 300 ranking when students’ names were published online. The contest director called and told him he was one of the 40 finalists.
“I was excited,” Arora said.
His project was “Mechanistic basis for severity analysis of SARS-CoV-2 omicron variants.”
Arora said what he learned about vaccines targeting different aspects of the coronavirus is less important now that the pandemic is over, but his research is still useful.
“The solution I developed is no longer so pressing, but the main promise of this work is a strategy, because it can be applied to other viruses in the future,” he said.
His project says that each time the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus mutates, it could potentially make existing vaccines less effective. He used statistical methods to determine which mutated variants cause the most symptoms in patients and how this affects the variant’s protein structure.
Arora also determined whether each mutation appeared alone or worked in combination with a second mutation.
Zhang, 17, was also selected as one of the top 300 high school scientists and won $2,000. Zhang said she plans to use the money to attend college.
“I didn’t expect to be in the top 300, but I’ve been working hard on the project for months, so I’m glad that my efforts have paid off,” Zhang said.
Her project was “A new photoluminescence recovery method for porous silicon quantum dots for bioimaging applications.”
Quantum dots are a component in a wide range of applications, from detecting cancer tumors to being part of television displays and widescreen monitors, Zhang said.
“My project focuses on the blink-off effect,” she said, explaining that less blinking improves accuracy when used to detect cancer tumors.
“They are injected into the human body to detect tumors,” Zhang said.
Del Norte High School also received $2,000 for student achievement.
The two were among 2,162 applicants from 712 high schools in 46 states, Puerto Rico and 10 other countries, contest officials said. They are recognized for their research, leadership skills, community involvement, academic commitment, creativity in asking scientific questions, and exceptional potential as leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, officials said in a press release. It was selected based on the evidence that
In addition to essays and recommendations, students were required to submit their own independent research projects.
The competition’s focus is to “identify, inspire, and engage the nation’s most promising young scientists who are generating ideas that can solve society’s most pressing challenges.”
Arora, the son of 4S Ranch residents Bimal and Vinita Arora, said he began researching the coronavirus through an internship as a freshman at the University of California, San Diego. At the time, he was interested in becoming a doctor, but due to pandemic restrictions, he was unable to volunteer at a hospital.
A lab at UCSD with a bioengineering professor as his mentor was an option, and the experience inspired him to pursue a career in research.
“Currently, I am focusing on analytical work, finding and implementing solutions,” he said.
Although Arora is working on other projects, he said his work on coronavirus has been his main focus for the past three years.
As the contest finalist is now part of the network, his accomplishments open up future possibilities with industry leaders and peers.
“There is a lifelong community of SDS alumni,” he said.
Zhang, the daughter of 4S Ranch residents Sherry Zhu and Meng Jiang, said she began researching quantum dots in a lab in the chemistry department at the University of California, San Diego, in September 2022. She began her studies there through a summer program for high school students and was able to continue working there as an intern during her academic year.
She continues to research quantum dots further with the goal of publishing what she learns.
“I learned about quantum dots during my internship at UCSD,” she said. “They are attractive because they have a wide range of applications, especially because they are only a few nanometers[in size]yet have a huge impact. I wanted to study them more in the lab.”
Zhang said she is interested in majoring in materials science in college because it is a broad, interdisciplinary field. For now, she hopes to focus on nanoengineering as a career.
“You can stay in academia or you can go to industry and get a job at a nanotech company,” she said.
She called this internship “truly life-changing” as it helped her decide on a major. “It helped me find my passion for research and it was a very memorable experience.”
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