Seven Ossining Seniors Advance in Regeneron Science Competition

Seven Ossining High School students in the Science Research Program are semifinalists in the 80th Regeneron Science Talent Search, the oldest and most prestigious competition for high school seniors.

The Society for Science chose the top 300 scholars based on their exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists. They were selected from 1,760 students who entered their science research projects from the United States and 10 other countries. OHS had the fourth largest number of winners of any school in the competition. The scholars and their schools will receive $2,000 each.

Regeneron and Society for Science will announce 40 finalists on Jan. 21. Those students will compete from March 10-17 for more than $1.8 million in awards.

Angelo Piccirillo, who co-teaches Ossining’s Science Research Program with Valerie Holmes, said seniors have worked diligently to achieve this great honor. “We must also recognize the amazing altruism of their research mentors, who are essential for the successful completion of these projects,” he said. “Our program continues to be successful because not only do we have brilliant students, but a school community that supports them. This is another proud moment that is shared by us all.”

These are the Ossining scholars and their projects:

• Charles Brown: “The Validation of Electrodermal Activity as an Objective Measurement of Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents.”
• Nicole Camilliere: “Year-Long Salinization of Groundwater and Surface Waters of Hudson River Watersheds Due to Chronic Road Salt Application.”
• Victor LaVaglia: “Open Office Noise Disrupts Worker Focus, Satisfaction, and Perception of their Productivity: A Quasi-Experimental Field-Study.”
• Linlee Mangialardi: “Reciprocal Synthesis and Degradation of Trehalose and Glycerol in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (species of yeast): Analysis Using a Consensus Genome Scale Metabolic Model.”
• Michael Pavelchek: “Swap70 (switch associated protein 70) and Myc (protein-coding gene) Promote Sequential Switching to High Affinity IgE (Immunoglobulin E) in Allergic Asthma.”
• Leela Roye: “Race vs. Emotion: Evaluating Which is the More Predominant Bias When Using an Attentional Task.”
• Meagan Ryan: “Discovering Long-Lasting Novel Epigenetic Mechanisms Associated with Cocaine Addiction: The Role of the SWI/SNF Remodeling Complex (protein group involved in gene expression and repairing damaged DNA) in the Nucleus Accumbens (area of the brain).”

“At a time when many students’ educational experiences are being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am incredibly humbled to see gifted young scientists and engineers eager to contribute fresh insights to solving the world’s most intractable problem,” said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of Society for Science.

This is the full list of scholars: https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/2021-scholars/.