The Nassau County Legislature honored Nassau County’s Regeneron finalists. 5 Nassau County high school seniors were among the 40 finalists chosen in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2022 competition, and many more were among the runner ups. The finalists were chosen based on their projects’ scientific rigor and their potential to become world-changing scientists and leaders. The pool of entrants was over 1,800 highly qualified students, all of whom completed an original research project and extensive application process.
“This award not only reflects upon these great students, who accomplished this prestigious feat, but also the quality education provided by our schools and teachers,” Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello said. “These students have demonstrated their leadership and commitment to STEM innovation through their projects which ranged from eye cancer, DNA-protein interactions, voting habits, dietary restrictions effect on life span, and COVID-19-induced stress. Congratulations to all the finalists and runners up.”
Nassau County Finalists:
Ethan Chiu
Syosset High School
Project Title: "Developing a self-formed ectodermal autonomous multi-zone organoid model using human stem cells to examine the effect of doxycycline treatment on uveal melanoma"
Rohan Ghotra
Syosset High School
Project Title: "Uncovering Motif Interactions from Convolutional Attention Networks for Regulatory Genomics"
Desiree Rigaud
John F. Kennedy High School
Project Title: "COVID-19 Induced Economic Stress: The Effect on Marital Functioning and Methods of Alleviating Financial Stress"
Christopher Luisi
John F. Kennedy High School
Project Title: "How Dietary Restriction Affects the Athleticism, Metabolic Rate, and Lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster"
Hailee Youn
Syosset High School
Project Title: "Why We Vote: How Positive Descriptive Norms and Holding a Minority Political Viewpoint Increase Citizens' Intention and Responsibility to Vote"
Shown in photo above, left to right: Legislator Bill Gaylor; Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello; Legislator Schaefer; Legislator Steve Rhoads; Barbi Frank, Teacher at John F. Kennedy High School; Shannon Su, Runner up, John F. Kennedy High School; Christopher Luisi, Finalist, John F. Kennedy High School; Desiree Rigaud, Finalist, John F. Kennedy High School; Legislator Rose Marie Walker; Legislator Arnold Drucker and Legislator Debra Mulé.