They are not your everyday classroom nerd. They aren’t satisfied by simply memorizing what’s in the textbook. They dig on to find new information, they contribute to human knowledge. They are ISEF finalists. Intel ISEF, or International Science and Engineering Fair, is the largest pre-college science fair in the world, where over 1,600 students from all around the world are invited to present their original research. This year, three Langley students have qualified to the ISEF by winning the Grand Prize at the Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The 2012 ISEF will be held this May in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Jason Cui
Most rising freshman spend their summer idly; only a few actually skim over what they would learn their freshman year. In summer 2010, Jason Cui went beyond even that – he researched cancer.
14-year-old Cui sent over 300 emails to college professors with his transcript, resume, and research plan, asking them to mentor him. He got an offer from Peking University, the top university in China. That summer, he hammered out a research paper that would send him to ISEF his freshman year.
“I was very surprised I made the ISEF, since I was only freshman,” recalled Cui, now a sophomore. Although Cui did not win any awards at ISEF last year, he thinks he has a decent chance this year.
“I learned a lot from the other people last year in ISEF. I think I have a chance this year,” said Cui.
His research presents Dong Cong Xia Cao – which literally means Winter Insect and Summer Grass in Chinese- as a potential and better treatment for cancer. Oriental legends feature it for its mystical quality of being an insect at winter and a fungus at summer. As a magical elixir in China since 4000 BCE, it has been rumored to improve heart conditions and reduce fatigue.
Who could have thought this could be a potential treatment for cancer? The topic fascinated Cui.
Cui also volunteers in a hospital and participates in Science Olympiad. He won 4th place in Anatomy and Physiology at the Regionals this February. To top it off, he’s a percussionist in Langley Wind Symphony.
“Jason is three standard deviations away from his peers,” said NCI researcher and Cui’s mentor, Dr. Beverly Mock. This means that he is in the top 0.1%.
At D lunch, you can see Cui surrounded by a cloud of girls, who say nothing but compliments about him. They call him a “giant teddy bear for his niceness.”
“My little brother idolizes him. He stole Jason’s jacket and is keeping it. He’s never giving it back,” said sophomore Erin Stvan, a girl at his lunch table.
Cui defines science as “using knowledge from the past to understand where we have come from.” He is considering researching Alzheimer’s Disease in his 8-week paid internship at the National Institute of Health this summer.
In the future, Cui wants to be a doctor.
“I like biology because it’s what really applies. Research is interesting, but I don’t want to limit myself. I want to be actually treating patients,” said Cui.
Jason’s project
Current therapy of cancer involves a lot of devastating side effects, like the prominent example of hairs falling off. Such side effects occur because the current therapy, while killing cancer cells, also kills healthy cells. Cui researched on Cordycepin, an extract from Dong Cong Xia Cao, which has recently been proposed as an alternative treatment by Chinese scientists. In the first year of his research, he found out that Cordycepin kills less healthy cells than the traditional therapy, meaning that it would have less side effects. However, Cordycepin meets inherent resistance from a protein in our body called ADA. To overcome that resistance, Cui combined Cordycepin with Cladribine, an ADA inhibitor, in his second year of the research.
Kelvin Niu
If Steve Jobs had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier, he might still be alive today. Now, junior Kelvin Niu has researched a novel method of diagnosing and treating pancreatic cancer, taking him to the ISEF.
It all started with a magazine article. In October, Niu was captivated when he read a research report on pancreatic cancer. He emailed the author, a professor from the University of Texas. The professor, impressed by Niu’s courage and outgoingness, donated 7 pancreatic cancer cell lines for Niu.
With his partner Daniel Park from Annandale High, Niu was placed in a lab at the National Institute of Health since this January.
“I chose cancer as my research topic because it is a hot topic in science,” said Niu.
Niu had to complete all the lab work in a month in order to get it done before the school science fair in early Feburary. Keeping the cells alive wasn’t as easy as it would seem. Just like pets or plants, they needed proper nutrition and care. Niu had to pull an all-nighter and skip the next day of school to format his poster board using Microsoft Powerpoint.
However, all his hard work paid off.
“I was freaking out and screaming, Kelvin was much more composed than I was. He cracked a smile, but he wasn’t jumping off the walls like I was,” said Park, recalling the moment they found out they made the ISEF.
Niu is also a member of Science Olympiad, in which he won 1st, 2nd, and 4th medals for three different events this Regionals. Outside of science, he is a boy scout, and he teaches math in a local Chinese school. He has been in cross country for three years.
“He’s notorious for breaking the AP Chemistry curve. His GPA is rumored to be over 5.0,” said junior Gene Kim, Niu’s classmate in AP Chemistry.
Niu defines science as “studying how things work; pursuit of truth.” His favorite subjects are AP Chemistry and Multivariable Calculus, the course you take after AP Calculus BC, which Niu took as a sophomore.
“I like AP Chemistry because it has more hands-on lab experience,” said Niu.
“Kelvin is smart. However, to call Kelvin a genius would be insulting to how hard he works. Geniuses have things come naturally to them. Kelvin has had to grit his teeth and claw his way through his accomplishments,” said Park.
Niu is still narrowing down what to major in college, but he wants go to medical school to be a doctor.
Kelvin’s project
Pancreatic cancer is well known for affecting Steve Jobs. It’s also known to be a silent-killer, because it has virtually no early symptoms. By the time when people find out they have it, it’s too late. Niu and Park found out that pancreatic cancer cell has less zinc concentration than healthy cells. Using this, doctors might be able to diagnose pancreatic cancer earlier. They also discovered that pancreatic cancer cells die when there is zero zinc around them. This can develop into a novel treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Gina Li
If you think you need to be in a fancy lab and research on cancer to win the science fair, you’re wrong: junior Gina Li’s award-winning research on environmental science was wholly done in her home computer.
Not only did she conduct extensive research, she also made her own computer program to use in the research, even though she had never learned Computer Science. She even taught herself statistics. Her final product was an actual website that helps Fairfax County policy makers decide what to do with the county land.
Li’s interest in environmental science sparked when her brother Darwin Li, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School, did a project on global warming during her freshman year. The next year, she won first place in the school science fair with her own project on Everglades. And this year, she has won the grand prize at the regional fair and first place in her category at the state fair. Her placement qualified her for the ISEF.
The prizes are rewarding, but the process of her science project wasn’t clear-cut at all. Sometimes it would be too frustrating. Her homemade computer program didn’t allow small mistakes, so every time she missed a comma or a semicolon by accident, she would have to start all over again.
But what made her go on? Her true devotion and interest on the subject.
“I like environmental science because it doesn’t involve a lot of tedious calculations. It draws the big picture,” said Li.
Her interest in environmental science led her to be an active participant of Envirothon, a quiz contest on the subject. Her team has won 3rd place in districts this year.
Outside of science, Li is also a renowned gymnast. As the captain of Langley Varsity Gymnastics Team since sophomore year, she has been the MVP for the two years. She coaches kids at a local gym and “gets kicked all the time.”
“She does random gymnastic movements in the Langley hallway,” said her teammate sophomore Julia Hara.
Other than her scientific and athletic talent, Li is famous for being funny.
“She has a great sense of humor. My Honors Algebra 2 class freshman year was always boring except for the fact she sat next to me and made the class fun,” said junior Alexia Tavassoli.
Over this summer, Li will be working out for gymnastics and working at a local gym. Of course, she will be coming up with a new project for next year’s science season.
“Science fair is so fun even if you don’t win. It’s just so fun to explain what you did and see other people’s researches. And dressing up is fun too,” said Li.
Gina’s project
Li’s product is a website, www.fairfaxlanduse.com, which at first glance is not much different from Google Maps. However, when you designate an area and click a button, the website tells you how much of that area is trees, grass, or water. Li has come up with an algorithm that allows this to happen, which utilizes visible light measurements of blue, green, red, and measurements of infrared, from aerial pictures taken by the National Agricultural Imagery Program. This website allows Fairfax County residents and politicians to effectively keep track of the county land.