Elmhurst Resident Wins Regional Siemens Competition

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst resident Neil Wary won top individual honors in the Regional Siemens Competition at Notre Dame University. The competition is the nation's premier science research competition for high school students and seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects.

Wary earned top honors and a $3,000 scholarship for using CRISPR/Cas9 to investigate a rare life-threatening genetic disease called CHARGE syndrome, according to a release. He was among 101 students overall selected to compete in regional competitions across the country this month out of a pool of more than 1,860 projects submitted for the competition.

Wary is a senior at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, but attended District 205 schools previously. According to a release, his project was titled, “Connecting the Chromatin Remodeler CHD7 in the Regulation of CHARGE Syndrome and Autism.”

Regional winners now move to the final phase of the Siemens Competition to present their work at the National Finals in Washington, D.C., Dec. 4-5, where $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.

Wary’s project used a groundbreaking new gene-editing tool called CRISPR/Cas9 to investigate a rare life-threatening genetic disease called CHARGE syndrome. The organization said CHARGE affects many areas of the body, and is characterized by impairments in vision and the central nervous system, heart defects, blockages of the nasal passages, growth retardation, genital abnormalities, ear anomalies and sometimes deafness. Children with CHARGE often experience delays in development and communication, as well as behavioral difficulties including autism.

According to the organization, using CRISPR, Wary developed a “disease-in-a-dish” model of CHARGE, recreating the genetic disorder in a petri dish to better understand it and to study potential treatments. Using the method, he discovered a unique link between the genetic mutations that cause CHARGE and blood vessel dysfunctions associated with heart and other vascular features that characterize the syndrome. The research could one day lay the groundwork for treating the disease.

“Neil Wary’s devotion to studying CHARGE syndrome—a life-threatening genetic disorder—was truly admirable,” Dr. Pinar Zorlutuna, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical engineering at Notre Dame University, said in a release. “From designing his genetic model to conducting the experiment using the CRISPR gene-editing tool, Neil has done great work in discovering what could be a significant link between vascular dysfunctions and this devastating disease.”

According to the organization, Wary has always been passionate about biology, stating a belief that it helps “us learn more about ourselves, and how to live a better life. There are a lot of things we can't control in our lives, but our own health and body shouldn't be one of them.”

One of his proudest accomplishments is having his research on epigenetic and regenerative biology published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, PLOS ONE.

When he grows up, Wary said in a release he hopes to become a physician and scientist. He is the director of his school’s STEM outreach program, which has developed a mentoring program and created curricula for workshops and summer camps. Outside of school, Wary plays the violin in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. Wary’s mentor is Dr. Kishore Wary at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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