We
are proud to announce that Tanque Verde High School student, Karah Mayer, has been recognized as one of the AVASC Foundation Special Award winners of the Regeneron ISEF 2020. AVASC Foundation is an educational and medical service foundation dedicated to recognizing academic talent and providing services to the needy. Karah's project was in Cellular and Molecular Biology: UG-RichRNA Is Key to
Alleviating Neurodegeneration in a Drosophila Model of Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS).
According to Karah’s mother, Robin Mayer, “Ever since Karah's 6th grade class (with former Agua Caliente Elementary teacher Kathy Murphy) attended the ISEF Outreach Day in Phoenix in 2016, Karah has made it her goal to be an ISEF finalist. She was selected as an eighth grade observer to ISEF in 2018 in Pittsburgh, an experience Karah described as one of the best weeks of her life. When she learned that her project this year won first place at the SARSEF science fair and she was selected to be an ISEF finalist, she was ecstatic. Unfortunately, the pandemic forced the cancelation of ISEF, which had been scheduled for the middle of May in Anaheim, California.”
Nonetheless,
Regeneron and other ISEF sponsors put together an incredible virtual program
that Karah was “thrilled to attend,” according to Robin Mayer. Karah was not aware that some of the sponsors
had decided to award prizes based on abstracts and short videos that the
finalists submitted. “To say that Karah
was surprised when the award letters arrived in her email is an
understatement,” Robin Mayer added.
For Karah's project on fruit flies and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Karah was awarded a Special Award from the AVASC Foundation. Karah won a second award of $1,000 from another ISEF sponsor, DCAT - Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association. These are in addition to the generous $2,500 scholarship that the SARSEF Board of Directors gave to each finalist this year.
In
the DCAT sponsor award letter, Karah was recognized by Executive Director,
Margaret Timony. “Our committee thought that the online presentation of your
innovative research demonstrates a curiosity, dedication and professionalism
that will serve you well as you pursue a college education and career in
science. We are pleased that you will use this award to further your studies,”
Ms. Timony stated.
Another significant factor that contributed to Karah's success with her project this year was the creation of the S.T.A.R. Lab (Students Taking Advantage of Research) at the University of Arizona. Both Karah and Emily Ignatoff (a rising senior at TVHS) were accepted to participate in the S.T.A.R. Lab back in October 2019. Each of them was paired with a mentor at the U of A and worked on their projects for several months.
Robin’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mayer, expressed how grateful they are for the leadership and teacher dedication within the Tanque Verde Unified School District. “Karah's teachers have fostered her love of science and her determination to succeed. We truly value the excellent public education that you provide and will continue to support this district in whatever ways we can,” they wrote in a recent communication to TVUSD Superintendent Scott Hagerman.
AVASC Foundation announces Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2020 Special Award winners
JUNE 20, 2020
AVASC
Foundation is delighted to announce its Special Award winners of Regeneron
International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2020, conducted virtually due
to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student winners are 9th through 12th
graders who earned the right to compete at the Regeneron ISEF 2020 by winning a
top prize at a local, regional, state or national science fair. AVASC
Foundation is an educational and medical service foundation dedicated to
recognizing academic talent and providing services to the needy. Since 2001,
AVASC Foundation has awarded ISEF projects that display outstanding creativity,
ingenuity, and have the potential to alleviate the human condition or mark a
substantive advancement in the scientific field. We are grateful to the panel
of special awards judges who evaluated the 1,012 project entries and abstracts
across 21 categories.
First Awards
BMED010 – Human Genetic Variant OtpQ153R/+ Causes
Excessive Weight Gain
and Glucose Intolerance in Mice
Khyathi
Divya Thallapureddy. Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX,
United States of America
TMED018
– Triangulating Fluoxetine into a Novel
Macular Degeneration Therapy via Biochemical, in vivo and Big Data Approaches
Meenakshi
Ambati. Albemarle High School, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America
Second Awards
ANIM029T – Staying
Ahead of the Hit: Using Drosophila melanogaster as an Integrated Model to
Elucidate the Neuropathology, Physiology, and Genetic Mechanisms Underlying
Traumatic Brain Injury
Shan Lateef, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and
Technology, Alexandria, VA, United States of America
Delaney
Kathleen Walts, Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School, Manassas, VA, United States
of America
ANIM030 – Phytogenic
Alternatives to Antibiotics for Organic Broiler Chicken
Production.
Sivaranjani Ramanathan. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Dindigul,
Tamil Nadu, India
BCHM013T – Cardiomyopathic
Chagas Disease: An Exploration of Diagnostic
Ability via Nanoparticle Biomarker Capture GluOx Pathway,
Mass Spectrometry, and Perseus-Based Machine Learning
Raymond
Del Vecchio, Centreville High School, Clifton, VA, United States of America
Harini
Somanchi, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria,
VA, United States of AmericaCBIO009 – A
Biologically-inspired, Biomarker-driven, Rapid Early Warning System for
Epileptic Onset Prediction and Seizure Detection Using Machine Learning
Pratik Vangal. Sunset High School, Portland, OR, United
States of America
CELL017 – UG-Rich
RNA Is Key to Alleviating Neurodegeneration in a Drosophila Model of
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Karah Michelle Mayer. Tanque Verde High School, Tucson,
AZ, United States of America
CHEM004T – Super
Tree Glue: An Investigation and Characterization of an Innovative 4-in-1 Combo
Material for the Treatment of Tree Infection
Pui Lam Queenie Choi, Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung
Yau College, Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Lok Yi Ng,
Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung Yau College, Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region
CHEM037 – Next
Generation Ultrafiltration for Wastewater Treatment: Characterization and
Performance of Fouling-Resistant Polymeric and Lyocell Cellulose Nanofiber
Membranes
Riya Patel, Jericho High School, Jericho, NY, United
States of America
ENBM029T – A Novel
Obstructive Sleep Apnea Management System
Anjan Sesetty, Poolesville High School, Poolesville, MD,
United States of America
Ishaan
Jain, Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville, MD, United States of America
Acknowledgements: The information for this article was
contributed by Dr. Grazyna Zreda and Mrs. Robin Mayer - Thank you!
Additional Information:
For the complete Virtual Regeneron ISEF 2020 Finalists
Directory, please click here: https://sspcdn.blob.core.windows.net/files/Documents/SEP/ISEF/2020/Virtual/Finalist-Directory.pdf
AVASC - Ashtavadhani Vidwan Ambati Subbaraya Chetty
Foundation:
AVASC is an educational and medical service foundation
dedicated to recognizing academic talent and providing services to the needy.
AVASC will award projects that display outstanding creativity, ingenuity, and
have the potential to alleviate the human condition or mark a substantive
advancement in the scientific field.
http://www.avasc.com/
DCAT - Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies
Association:
www.dcat.org
ISEF - Regeneron International Science and Engineering
Fair:
https://www.societyforscience.org/isef/
SARSEF - Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering
Fair:
https://sarsef.org/8907-sarsef-2020-winners/
U of A Science - Molecular & Cellular Biology S.T.A.R.
Lab:
https://mcb.arizona.edu/outreach/star-lab