Whiz Kid: Felix Angelov

Name:  Felix Angelov

Age: 17

Grade: Junior

School:  Niles West High School

Accomplishments:  Felix Angelov’s pioneering scientific research on how bacteria communicates captured 4^th place in the microbiology category at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held this week in Los Angeles, Calif. 

ISEF is the premier science fair competition in the world for high schoolers, attracting more than 1,600 students from more than 60 nations, along with technology industry leaders and Noble Prize laureates.  Earlier in the month, Angelov won the Outstanding Achievement in Microbiology and Best In Category awards at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science state fair held at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana on May 6 and 7. 

Angelov’s research project was titled “The Effects of Homoserine Lactone Octadecanoyl-L on Quorum Sensing in V. Harveii." It focused on the way vibrio harveii bacteria grow to a critical mass and then communicate with each other to take concerted action against an organism.  While the vibrio harveii bacteria itself is benign, it is related to and behaves similarly to the bacteria that causes cholera, a potentially deadly disease if left untreated.  Angelov identified chemicals which disrupt or inhibit the communication among bacteria. 

“By understanding how bacteria communicate, I figured out how to confuse them and to block them from taking a particular action," Angelov said. "This is better than trying to kill the bacteria because then the bacteria can either mutate or develop resistance against the chemical agent through natural selection." 

Angelov believes his research could lead to alternative treatments and medicines for various diseases. He also hopes to make significant contributions in the field of epidemiology.

The top science teen did his top flight research as part of the STEM  Inquiry and Research class at Niles West High School. STEM is the acronym for the school’s  Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program.  

Ruth Gleicher, the teacher for the STEM class and Angelov’s faculty advisor, was particularly impressed  with the originality of Angelov’s idea and his drive to pursue the subject matter with little outside guidance or encouragement.

“This research is quite novel and it provides an alternative to the way scientists typically look at resistance. It is also amazing that Felix came up with these ideas on his own," Gleicher said. "He read very high-end academic literature, and was even discouraged by some in academia who thought the subject matter was too complex for a high school student to pursue. His results are quite impressive”.

Key to Awesomeness: Angelov said a number of motivating factors have contributed to his success. 

“I have always enjoyed science, but being able to do this kind of research as part of the STEM class at Niles West has been a dream come true," he said. "I am intrigued that my research can focus on a problem that no one else is doing.  I also like the idea that my work may end up helping people, and that my research may build the foundations for others.

"While I am motivated by positive results, bad results push me to find out what went wrong," he added.

Angelov’s talents and interests extend beyond the laboratory. He played soccer at Niles West and is also on the varsity volleyball team.  He has also played piano for the past 11 years and looks forward to studying biochemistry in college, but as a junior he is not yet sure where he would like to enroll.  This summer he will be working with graduate biology students at Northwestern University.