Living a science dream
This week, whiz kid Natasha Kulviwat joins us to discuss National Geographic’s “Science Fair: The Series” and her impressive work to prevent teen suicide.
Based on the winsome doc that premiered at Sundance in 2018 and went on to win an audience award at SXSW, “Science Fair: The Series” simply expands the fun — sort of like how heat expands gases. (Right? I became an entertainment journalist because I didn’t ace AP chemistry.) The three-part docuseries, which premiered last week on National Geographic and is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+, follows a new crop of students on their journey toward “the most competitive science fair on the planet.” One of the series’ subjects, Natasha Kulviwat, graciously stopped by Screen Gab to talk about her love of “Legally Blonde,” her admirable work on the science of teen suicide and more.
What’s the movie or TV show that you and your friends can’t stop talking about?
The “Hunger Games” prequel, “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”
What is your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?
“Legally Blonde” [Max, Pluto TV]. It’s such an iconic feminist empowerment movie and rewatching it always makes me feel so powerful.
How would you explain your project for the International Science and Engineering Fair to someone like me who knows nothing about science and engineering?
The project you see me working on in “Science Fair” was conducted when I was a freshman/sophomore. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents, yet there still exists no objective marker to predict suicide risk. I investigated neurocognitive games, which measure neurocognitive vulnerabilities such as impulsivity, cognitive flexibility and working memory.
I analyzed the neurocognitive task scores of over 200 high-risk adolescents that were hospitalized for previous suicide attempts and evaluated the association with suicide ideation and attempt following discharge from the hospital. I found that two neurocognitive tasks could be used as effective, noninvasive and lowcost markers that can be administered on a mobile device in under seven minutes. From this data, I coded a suicide risk calculator to serve as a pilot demonstration for how an objective suicide risk tool could supplement clinicians’ decisions. This research further fueled my passion to continue. This year and last year, I looked into the human brain to find protein biomarkers for suicide risk and found some promising results!
What surprised you most about the process of making a docuseries?
I was in middle school when the first “Science Fair” documentary came out and I still remember being in the audience and looking up at all the brilliant high school students and how they were changing the world.
The biggest surprise for me about the docuseries was the fact that I was in it! Also, I was so fortunate to be able to work with such a dedicated and passionate film crew. They always made me feel comfortable while filming. There were so many times where I either forgot I was mic’d or I lost the mic, so you can imagine how grateful I was for the amount of patience they had. Overall, I had so much fun filming and it was a dream come true!