Two north suburban high school seniors are among the top 300 scholars in the Society for Science’s Regeneron Science Talent Search 2021, organization leaders announced in a news release.
Sayalee Patankar of Adlai E. Stevenson High School and Alexandra “Ally” Bardas of New Trier High School will each receive $2,000 for themselves and $2,000 for their school as part of the award.
Patankar and Bardas were selected from 1,760 applicants from 45 states, Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico, and 10 countries. They are to learn Jan. 21 if they are among the 40 finalists who will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards, according to the release.
“The Regeneron Science Talent Search provides students with a national stage to present original research and celebrates the hard work and discoveries of young scientists who are bringing a fresh perspective to significant global challenges,” according to the release.
Patankar’s project is called “Deep Learning-Based Computational Drug Discovery to Inhibit the RNA Dependent RNA Polymerase: Application to SARS and COVID-19.”
“I’ve always been interested in medicine and biology,” 17-year-old Patankar said. “I started the research projects in eighth grade. The Zika virus was having outbreaks and I learned that it was causing microcephaly in babies and it was disrupting athletes’ ability to participate in the Olympics.”
Microcephaly is a condition in which a baby’s head is smaller than normal and not fully developed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Patankar decided to explore this problem and attempt to find drugs for it.
“In grades eight, nine, and 10 I did science fair projects, trying to find drugs for the Zika virus,” Patankar said. “Then by the time I got to 11th grade, I decided to transition to finding general antiviral drugs — a drug that can potentially stop the replication of many viruses, kind of as how antibiotics can prevent a lot of bacterial diseases. Once the COVID outbreak began in December and January [2020], I transitioned that antiviral project to coronaviruses.”
Since Patankar’s work is all computational, she is able to work from home. So she has continued her research during the pandemic, she said.
She said she does, however, have a mentor, Dr. Pathum Weerawarna at the Silverman Laboratory at Northwestern University, who helped Patankar with her projects on the Zika virus.
“He taught me some basic principles of drug design and exposed me to some docking software,” she said.
Being selected as one of the top 300 scholars in the competition showed Patankar that “research matters to people as much as it matters to me and it does have value to the scientific community,” she said.
Patankar explained that she plans to become a scientist-physician, doing medical research in addition to having a critical care medicine practice. She hasn’t chosen a college yet.
Ally Bardas’ project is “Identification of Novel Candidate Genes for Anthelmintic Drug Susceptibility to Alter Neglected Tropical Disease Treatment Strategies.”
“My dad instilled an interest in math and science in me at a young age,” said 17-year-old Bardas. “Math and science have always been my favorite subjects in school. I’ve been a part of the science clubs at my school. I seek ways to do math and science outside of school as well. It’s become a huge part of my identity.”
Bardas described her project as attempting “to identify genes responsible for drug resistance that cause diseases and create problems for the livestock industry worldwide as well as the crop industry.”
She reported that about one-fifth of the world’s population have infections that make other diseases such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis far deadlier.
“These infections are disproportionately affecting many low-income countries,” she said. “By identifying genes, I hope to lessen the burden of these infections on impoverished countries.” Bardas explained that the anthelmintic drugs currently used to treat these infections are outdated and parasites are becoming resistant to them.
She said she does her research at the Andersen Laboratory at Northwestern University, although she has been unable to go there recently because of the pandemic.
“It’s a huge honor to be named a Regeneron Science Talent,” Bardas said. “I was very humbled that my work stood out. Regeneron inspired me to think more deeply about my research.”
– Original Credit: Sayalee Patankar
Bardas plans to double-major in math and biology at Northwestern University.
“We take great pride in the next generation of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) leaders,” said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of Society for Science.
The Society for Science is a nonprofit “membership organization focused on promoting the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement” founded in 1921, according to its website.
The Science Talent Search began in 1942.
“It was based on finding the next generation of scientific talent,” Ajmera said.
Regeneron has been the corporate title sponsor of the competition since 2017, according to the release.
Ajmera praised the talent of previous winners of the competition. Their ranks also include “folks that have founded companies and are professors, and are on the frontline of new discoveries,” she said.
According to the release, previous winners have collectively received 13 Nobel Prizes, 11 National Medals of Science, six Breakthrough Prizes, 21 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and two Fields Medals.
As part of the application process, competition participants must submit their research paper, an in-depth application form, letters of recommendation, grades and SAT scores.
“Hundreds of judges throughout the United States pour through these applications and narrow it to the top 300 scientists and engineers in the United States,” Ajmera said. “Then we have a panel of judges. For four or five days, they pour over these 300 applications and select the top 40.”
The top 40 scholars are invited to Washington, D.C. where they go through an interview process. This portion of the competition will be held March 10-17, and will be virtual this year, due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
All 300 of the top scholars will be tracked throughout their careers by the Society for Science.
“We will follow them very carefully to make sure that they are getting the attention that they deserve,” Ajmera said.
Myrna Petlicki is a freelancer.
