Indian-American teen wins $50,000 Young Scientist award
Darpan News Desk IANS, 01 Jun, 2023 11:26 AM
New York, June 1 (IANS) A 17-year-old Indian-origin student in Missouri has won the prestigious Regeneron Young Scientist Awards of $50,000 for his research relating to the mpox virus.
Saathvik Kannan of David H. Hickman High School in Columbia was awarded for using biocomputational methods to understand the causes of heightened infectivity in the disease mpox after it re-emerged in 2022.
Saathvik's approach, named Bioplex, uses a combination of machine learning and three-dimensional comparative protein modeling to decode structures like those that enable the mpox virus to replicate.
This allowed him to identify the mutations in the virus that likely made it more infectious as well as other mutations that could make it resistant to antibiotics.
He credited his mentor, Kamlendra Singh, an assistant professor of veterinary pathobiology at the University of Missouri.
"I was overjoyed and incredibly excited!" Saathvik wrote in an email to the Columbia Daily Tribute about the prize.
"I felt that it reflected our work with Dr. Singh's mentorship and guidance over the last few years culminating in my project from this year."
Saathvik believes scientists will also be able to apply Bioplex to future outbreaks of other viruses.
More than 1,600 young scientists and engineers representing 49 states and 64 countries across the world competed at the 2023 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
Saathvik also took first place in the fair's computational biology and bioinformatics division, receiving another $5,000.
According to Regeneron, a leading biotechnology company, the winners were selected for their commitment to innovation in tackling challenging scientific questions, using authentic research practices and creating solutions to the problems of tomorrow.
Rishab Jain, another Indian-American student from Portland, won the same award last year for developing an AI-based model to enable rapid and cost-effective production of drugs, such as recombinant Covid-19 vaccines, using synthetic DNA engineering.
Born in Pakhowal village of Punjab's Hoshiarpur district, Lal came to England in 1964 with his mother to join his father Sardar Harnam Singh, a British-Indian army officer who in the Second World War served in the Italian campaign. Lal joined the Labour Party in 1989 and has taken part in many social justice campaigns to challenge inequality and all forms of discrimination.
Sehgal, founder and president of The Culture Tree, was honoured on Tuesday at the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Reception 2023 in New York, which was attended by 800 prominent members of the diaspora and Asian communities.
Sweena Pannu, a Democrat, who will serve as a Judge in the Stanislaus County Superior Court, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thomas D. Zeff. She was an attorney at ML SARIN from 1996 to 2004, and earned a Master of Laws degree from the University of Aberdeen School of Law.
Sirihaasa Nallamothu of University High School in Normal, Illinois, will receive a $10,000 cash prize for her project that was selected by a panel of judges based on ingenuity, complexity, relevancy and originality.
Makhija worked at the White House, Senate, and earned his JD at Harvard Law School on the Horace Lentz Scholarship. As the son of Indian immigrants, the Pennsylvania native is passionate about enfranchising underrepresented communities and engaging new citizens in state and local politics.
Maldonado runs the 102nd Police Precinct in South Richmond Hill -- home to one of the largest Sikh communities in the US -- and is now the NYPD's first female South Asian captain. The mother of four lived in Punjab until she was nine before moving to Queens.
