By Dr. April Burch
AMSR Program Director
On Wednesday, Nov. 15 seven students in the Advanced Math/Science Research program entered the nation's oldest and most prestigious science competition.
Sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals based in Tarrytown, NY, the Regeneron Science Talent Search attracts around 1,300 entrants each year from public, charter and private high schools. Berkshire School has had eight semi-finalists in the past eight years.
Formerly known as the Intel STS and Westinghouse Prize, the Regeneron STS competition considers many aspects of the applicant's profile including grades, SAT/ACT scores, awards, personal statements on the future of science, volunteerism, and a 20-page research paper. Many of the entrants, semi-finalists, and winners of the STS prize have gone on to receive millions of dollars in awards, as well as Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals, and MacArthur Fellowships.
Click here to read about Berkshire's previous entrants.
The seven entrants from Berkshire's Class of 2018 are (photo above, left to right) Chi Nguyen, Katie Hargrave, Cooper Tuckerman, David Lee, Dr. Burch, Charlie Millard, Amaal Mahamed, and Michael O'Loughlin.
"We are in a unique position this year to have so many, incredibly strong, applicants for the STS competition," said Dr. April Burch, AMSR Program Director. "The Regeneron competition is not required for AMSR students. Students choose to complete this application in addition to everything else happening in the fall of their senior year and on top of some of the most difficult academic schedules offered by Berkshire School.
"I am so proud of each of them for giving this competition their all!"
The top 300 student scholars will be announced on Jan. 9, 2018. Forty finalists will be announced in late January.
Student Reasearch
Charles Millard - Southport, CT
Title: "Evaluating the Mechanism of Action of Ulipristal Acetate In Uterine Fibroid Cells"
Mentor: Dr. Shannon Whirledge, Yale University
Cooper Tuckerman - Bozeman, MT
Title: "Genetic Study Reveals the Importance of the B-F Capsid Protein Interface During Assembly of phiX174"
Mentor: Dr. Bentley Fane, University of Arizona
Amaal Mahamed - Hargeisa, Somaliland
Title: "Brain Connectomics: Use of IMOD to Reconstruct Astrocytes in the Hippocampus"
Mentor: Dr. Annalisa Scimemi, University at Albany SUNY
David Lee - Seoul, South Korea
Title: "Yeast Molecular Switch System has Potential to Detect PCBs in Water"
Mentor: Dr. April Burch, Berkshire School
Chi Nguyen - Hanoi, Vietnam
Title: "Summarizing and Comparing Drug Adverse Events for Parkinson's Disease"
Mentor: Dr. Elizabeth Chen, Brown University
Katherine Hargrave - Westford, MA
Title: "Subcellular Localization of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator"
Mentors: Drs. April Burch, Berkshire School and Raymond Frizzell, Univ. of PIttsburgh
Michael O'Loughlin - Westport, CT
Title: "High Throughput Sequencing Reveals Paenibacillus as Potential Inhibitor of Legionella pneumophila"
Mentor: Dr. April Burch, Berkshire School