Oradell Teen wins $250,000 for her Scientific Research Project at the Bergen County Academies!

Bergen County Academies senior Indrani Das of Oradell, was awarded First Prize and $250,000 at the Regeneron Science Talent Search this week. Created by the Society for Science and the Public and previously sponsored by Westinghouse and most recently by Intel, the competition has been called the Junior Nobel Prize. Regeneron increased the prizes for student research awards this year and Indrani, as the top winner, was awarded $250,000 to put towards her college education. Indrani’s mentor, Mrs. Donna Leonardi proudly states that, “Indrani demonstrates a sincere passion for the scientific endeavor, and her integrity and work ethic are without compare. What is special is that she puts her heart into all she does, and coupled with her intellect, she will attain great heights.”

After spending a week with the other finalists, in Washington, DC, presenting her research and being interviewed by judges, Indrani was awarded her prize at a Gala Dinner at the National Building Museum. According to Indrani, her project essentially “remediates” supporting brain cells that lose their functionality and become toxic in brain injury and disease. She states that she remediated the brain cells by using novel treatments of a small RNA molecule, packaged in tiny vesicles, called exosomes that can easily reach the brain. Indrani told the school newspaper, The Academy Chronicle, that she became interested in brain injury and disease in her freshman year, when she learned that such conditions are both poorly understood and largely untreatable. She decided to focus on the common framework of numerous conditions (ALS, stroke, traumatic brain injury, etc.): the “impairment” of crucial supporting brain cells.

Indrani, who attends the Academy for Medical Science Technology within the Bergen County Academies, plans to study biophysics in college. She would like to do more research into what microRNA targets in astrocytes, since that may be a good way to find out how brain injury progresses. Mr. Russell Davis, Principal of the Bergen County Academies stated, “All of us at the Bergen County Academies are thrilled over Indrani’s success in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. To think that she was able to complete such high level research in our school’s research labs is truly remarkable and speaks to the commitment of our students, our faculty and our District to furthering scientific research.”