NRI Isha Jain,
16, won the $100,000
scholarship & make
History
by Sweeping Top Honors at a Science Contest
New York, Dec. 3, 2007
Harbakash Singh
NRI Isha Himani Jain, 16, a senior at Freedom High School
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, won the $100,000 scholarship and placed
first in the individual category for her studies of bone growth
in zebra fish, whose tail fins grow in spurts, similar to the
way children’s bones do.
Bone Growth: Jain's research on zebra fish bone
growth that adds a new dimension to our understanding of human
bone growth and our ability to treat bone injuries and disorders.
Ms. Jain's project is entitled, Bone Growth in Zebra Fish Fins
Occurs via Multiple Pulses of Cell Proliferation. Jain is the
first to identify mini spurts, a cellular mechanism that underlies
growth spurts on a molecular level. This is graduate level work
It is the top honor for the first time in its nine-year history,
in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, one
of the nation’s most coveted student science awards, which
were announced yesterday at New York University. Isha Jain's research
has been published in Developmental Dynamics, a premier journal
in the field of developmental biology. Isha is a member of the
American Physiological Society, Endocrine Society, and American
Ceramic Society.
Tuberculosis research: Janelle Schlossberger
and Amanda Marinoff, seniors at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F.
Kennedy High School in Plainview, New York, won the $100,000 prize
in the team category, which they will share equally, for research
on tuberculosis.
Genetic defects: Alicia Darnell, 17, a senior
at Pelham Memorial High School in Pelham, N.Y., won second place
and a $50,000 scholarship in the individual category for research
that identified genetic defects that could play a role in the
development of Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Nancy Hopkins, a biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology said, the three girls’ victories is “wonderful
news, but I can’t honestly say it’s shocking,”
The president of the Siemens Foundation, Mr. James Whaley said,
"The competition results send a great message to young women."
Isha Himani Jain's mother Sweety Jain is a doctor and
father Himanshu Jain, a chair professor at department of materials
science and engineering at Lehigh University, Bethlehemwho developed
her interest in clinical research and awareness of the importance
of science. Isha's hobbies include Indian classical and modern
dance, soccer, skiing, and jewelry making. She plans to study
biology and mathematics and aspires to lead a lab focused in these
disciplines. Isha Himani Jain, who took home the top individual
prize, published her first research paper with her father when
she was 10.
Isha says her father Himanshu Jain, a chair professor at department
of materials science and engineering at Lehigh University, Bethlehem,
and her mother Sweety Jain, who practises family medicine, encouraged
her.
In Siemens Competition the national winners of the
2007-08 were:
Individuals
