Greenwich students receive prestigious science honors
Two high school seniors representing Greenwich schools have been named scholars in a prestigious science and math competition.
Anisha Laumas, of Greenwich Academy, received recognition for her leukemia research, and Bennett Hawley, of Greenwich High School, was honored for designing a new way to reduce landfill pollution. They were among 300 high school seniors selected this week from nearly 2,000 students to become scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. Each received an award of $ 2,000.
After weeks researching at Yale University, Laumas, a Stamford resident, made discoveries that could lead to new treatment options for patients with a blood cancer that accounts for one percent of childhood leukemias, competition organizers announced.
Laumas demonstrated how two molecules that are crucial to normal blood cell development interact in new ways when they come in contact with an abnormal protein present in the blood cancer, called acute megakaryoblastic leukemia.
She then wrote a computer program that sifted through existing data and identified more molecules that could relate to the cancer.
“If I were a career scientist with resources to pursue it, I guess, my next steps would be doing more experiments to figure out what the roles of the new players are, and coming up with a relationship between how these elements are related to the blood cancer,” Laumas said.
Laumas did not expect her biomedical research would incorporate her knowledge of computer science.
“One similarity I found ... is even though there’s an initial hurdle, once you overcome that and see the bigger picture of why you’re doing the research you’re doing, it becomes something you can wrap your head around and become passionate about,” she said.
Laumas has worked at Yale for two years. Before her individual project, she ran experiments and analyzed data for stem cell research her mentor was conducting. Her work, and her name, figured into an abstract in the Journal of Blood in December.
Environmental science has always been Hawley’s passion, said GHS science teacher Andy Bramante. Regeneron has picked between one and seven of Bramante’s students annually since he started teaching more than a decade ago.
For his experiment, Hawley demonstrated how a gut bacteria in the common wax worm could help break down plastics that sit in land fills for hundreds of years before decomposing.
No other scientist has done such a direct and sophisticated analysis of this topic, Bramante said.
“The news came as a surprise,” Hawley said in an email. “My research was inspired by biomimicry, where sciences seek scientific solutions inspired by nature. After a year’s worth of research, it is gratifying to see my work recognized — but even more exciting to think about how I advance my findings in the future.”
Hawley was able to use an electron microscope that Hitachi High-Technologies, a Japanese technology manufacturing company, donated to Bramante in November. With the scope, he could even see evidence of plastics breaking down.
This is the latest in a series of projects Hawley has completed. Previously, he devised a buoy that generates energy from waves, and for his Eagle Scout project, Hawley demonstrated that trash dumped into storm drains in Greenwich pollutes Long Island Sound.
“To me, this is an awesome culmination of everything he has been doing,” Bramante said.
Next, 40 of the 300 scholars will travel to Washing- ton, D.C. in March, where they will interact with leading scientists, display their research and meet with members of Congress as they compete for $1.8 million in prizes. Winners will be announced on the last day of the trip.
“These students are the future leaders of tomorrow and are using innovative thinking to improve our world,” said Hala Mirza, senior vice president of corporate communications and citizenship at Regeneron.
More than 100 Science Talent Search alumni have gone on to earn top science and math honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes, 42 National Academy of Sciences memberships, 19 MacArthur Foundation fellowships, 13 National Medals of Science and five Breakthrough Prizes.
For the complete list of scholars, visit the Society for Science at: bit.ly/2b0wHb7.