8 Jericho Students Named Intel Semifinalists

By Denise Nash

Ken Aizawa, Matthew Chun, Chenle (Leo) Hu, Xingan (Ian) Hua, Pretti Kakani, Dohee (Diane) Na, Kaitlyn Shin, and Amy Zu, all seniors at Jericho High School, were named eight of the 300 Semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, a program of Society for Science & the Public. Jericho’s eight students represent the largest number of students from any school on Long Island this year.

The semifinalists of the Intel Science Talent Search were chosen from almost 1,800 entrants representing 489 high schools in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and seven overseas schools.

The students worked on the following projects:

*Ken Aizawa – Interrogating SGK3 Function in Cancer

*Matthew Chun – Stoichiometric Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Simple and Cost-Effective Laser Material Fabrication: A Case Study of Polycrystalline Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Ceramics

*Chenle (Leo) Hu – The Effects of SRSF1, SRSF6, TRA2b, and HNRNPA1 Expression on Human Breast Cancer Cells

*Xingan (Ian) Hua – RNA-Seq Identifies Critical Genes Deregulated in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

*Pretti Kakani – Differential Gene Expression Prior to Eye Opening in Mouse Superior Colliculus

*Dohee (Diane) Na – Elucidation of Racial Disparity Between Caucasian and African American Prostate Cancer for the Development of Personalized Pharmacogenetics

*Kaitlyn Shin – Photon and Positron Emission from Primordial Black Hole Clusters

*Amy Xu – Host-specific Binding of ClfB in Staphylococcal Nasal Carriage

Each of the 300 students named a semifinalist in the Intel STS 2014 will receive a $1,000 award for his or her outstanding research. Additionally, to recognize excellence in teaching and school support of individual student research, every school will receive an award of $1,000 for each semifinalist named in the Intel STS 2014. This award is used to further excellence in science, math, and/or engineering education.

From this group of 300 Intel STS 2014 semifinalists, 40 finalists will be chosen to attend the Intel Science Talent Institute in Washington, DC from March 6–12, 2014. During their trip to Washington, these finalists will undergo further judging and share $630,000 in awards.