Top US Sudent Innovators

 Talent Search identifies Top US Student Innovators

 The awards ceremony was the culmination of an intense
week during which the 40 finalists were queried by jud-
ges and the public. They met with scientists, politicians
and even President Barack Obama,who welcomed them
to the White House. These high achievers were whittled
down from nearly 2,000 contestant’s nationwide, repre-
senting excellence across many disciplines.

"These students bring work that is ready for publication
and in many cases has already been published in pretty
much any branch of science that you can think of: phy-
sics, electrical engineering," says Wendy Hawkins, exe-
cutive director of the Intel Foundation which sponsored
of the event. "And the projects are deep and rich and
insightful." Those projects contribute serious new
scientific data and analysis.  Selena Li,a 17-year old
first-generation Chinese-American from Sacramento,
California, is working on a more effective treatment
for liver cancer."It is a huge problem in Asia and Africa.
The problem with liver cancer is the five year survival
rate is 10 percent, whereas for other cancers it’s 80
percent or more," says Li. "There is a major lack of
viable treatments for liver cancer so I really wanted to
look into that field." Li began that quest four years ago.
She found a mentor at the University of California who
taught her how to design and execute experimental
work in the laboratory.

"I researched a new approach to targeting liver cancer
by basically starving the cancer cells to death, while
leaving the normal cells unaffected," she says. "And to
go one step further, I blocked a survival pathway to
make the treatment more effective. "Li placed fifth in
the Intel Science Talent Search, with a $30,000 award.
She says the work was time-consuming, but she has
no regrets.

"Despite the multiple times I’ve had to stay in the lab
until twelve or come in before school to do my exp-
eriments, it was an incredibly rewarding experience.
Despite all of the frustrations, I think that I’ve gotten
a lot out of my research experience and I encourage
other people to do this."

Scott Boisvert agrees. He’s from a suburb of Phoenix,
Arizona.  At 14, he approached the University of Ariz-
ona to request time in their laboratory.  Over the course
of four years he refined a project studying a fungus
linked to the decline of amphibians across the globe.

"It is actually the largest mass extinction since the din-
osaurs," says Boisvert. "I was trying to see if different
chemistry in the environment, different chemicals and
substances in the water across Arizona, could potent-
ially kill the fungus and stop its spread and infection of
the amphibians."Boisvert collected and tested the water
samples.  "My results were able to identify a list of the
chemicals that were significant in the growth and in the
movement of the fungus."

According to Boisvert, his research has been accepted
for publication in a professional science journal. He
hopes his findings help guide habitat conservation ma-
nagers around the world.  At the Intel Science Talent
Search, the work earned him a 10th place finish and a
$20,000 award.

"It’s been an incredible opportunity for me and really
the capstone of all that I’ve been able to do in high
school," Boisvert says.
He and Li both plan to be physicians and medical res-
earchers. Their achievements are a reminder of what
high school students can achieve.

"All of these students are scientists," says Hawkins, the
talent search executive director. "They have those
abilities, that knowledge and that approach to look at
the world. These students go on and do wonderful
things in ways both expected and unexpected.
"Hawkins says the gifted students also serve as exam-
ples for others to follow, and represent the next gene-
ration of innovators who will shape America’s future.