[CHANTILLY, VIRGINIA] – April 28, 2025 – Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), the nation’s premier showcase for high school science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) research, proudly announces the 2025 winners of the 63rd National JSHS competition.

JSHS is sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD) and administered by the National Science Teaching Association. This year’s National JSHS event took place April 22-26 at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles in Chantilly, Virginia. The event welcomed 239 of the brightest high school STEM students from across the country, their teachers, and JSHS university partners. Esteemed judging panels of scientists from the Department of Defense selected the top presenters in each of the eight categories.

“Each year, the students at JSHS redefine the possibilities in STEM,” said Winnie Boyle, Senior Director of Competitions, NSTA. “Their groundbreaking research and unwavering curiosity inspire us all, and we are honored to support their academic journeys with scholarships and awards.”

The National JSHS competition awarded 48 national winners, selected from students who first presented their original research at one of 49 regional symposia held at universities and colleges across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and DoDEA schools worldwide. The top five students from each region were invited to compete at the National JSHS event as national finalists. Of these five, the top two finalists competed in oral presentations for the chance to win scholarships ranging from $4,000-$12,000 and the remaining three finalists competed in the poster competition for a chance to win cash awards. In total, the National JSHS event awarded $192,000 in scholarships and $10,800 in cash awards to the national winners.

"JSHS is a testament to the creativity and determination of young researchers nationwide. It is an honor to celebrate these bright young minds as they push the boundaries of scientific discovery and innovation. Congratulations to this year’s national winners, whose hard work and passion for research are commendable. We look forward to seeing the impact they will have on the future of science and technology," said NSTA Interim Chief Executive Officer Bob Lay. 

Abstract submissions for the 2024-2025 JSHS competition will open in the fall. For more information on JSHS, visit www.jshs.org.

1st Place Oral Presentations: earning $12,000 scholarships

Biomedical Sciences 
Siri Peddinti, Texas, Plano East Senior High School
Vocalyze: A Deep Learning Approach to Detecting Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Tracking Treatment Efficacy via Vocal Acoustic Inflections and Sentiment Analysis  

Chemistry
Pragathi Kasani-Akula, Georgia, South Forsyth High School
Multi-Color Magneto-Fluorescent Nanoarchitectures for the Targeted Identification of Exosomes of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Engineering and Technology
Sean Skinner, New York-Long Island, Ward Melville High School
Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Many-Objective Generative Design

Environmental Science
Matthew Lo, Philadelphia and Delaware, The Haverford School
BeeMind AI: Development of an Artificial Intelligence-Based System to Assess Honeybee Health, Behavior, and Nutrient Effects

Life and Behavioral Sciences
Selena Qiao, North Central, Breck School
Turf Trouble: Does The DEET In Bug Repellent Really Kill Grass? Year II

Math and Computer Science 
Eric Buehler, New England Northern, Home School
AI on Edge: Novel Post-Training Quantization for Education Applications

Medicine and Health
Sritej Padmanabhan, Pennsylvania, North Allegheny Senior High School
ParkinSense: A Telehealth Toolkit for Quantitative Analysis of Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease

Physical Sciences 
Aiden Kwon, California Southern, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School
Revolutionizing Turbulence Studies: Novel Low-Cost Zero Mean-Flow Chamber Design and Physics-Informed Tensor Basis Neural Network

2nd Place Oral Presentations: earning $8,000 scholarships

Biomedical Sciences 
Aaron Weinberg, New York-Upstate, The Masters School
Characterizing the RyR2-Mediated Cardiac Pathophysiology of COVID-19 in Rodent Models

Chemistry
Aarush Tutiki, Southwest, Albuquerque Academy
ICEFAB-Nano: An Integrated Computational-Experimental Framework to Accelerate the Development of Highly Biofunctional Nanotherapeutics for Healthy and Cancerous Applications

Engineering and Technology
Cooper Taylor, Connecticut, Greenwich Country Day School
Next-Generation VTOL Drones: A Breakthrough in Tilt Mechanism and Modular Design for Optimization and Accessibility

Environmental Science
Anna Tringale, North Carolina, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Investigating the Influence of Coal Ash Heavy Metal Leachate on Thyroid Hormone Concentration, Hormone Receptor Gene Expression, and Spectral Sensitivity in Danio Rerio

Life and Behavioral Sciences
Siddharth Sridharan, Arkansas, Little Rock Central High School
The Neurobiology of Voluntary Exercise: A Novel Approach to Alleviate Chemobrain by Promoting Hippocampal Neurogenesis

Math and Computer Science 
Max Lee, Georgia, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Multi-Branch Temporal-Spectral LSTM-CNN in Deepfake Audio Detection

Medicine and Health
Aakash Bhattacharyya, Arkansas, Central High School
Early Detection of Critical Salmonella Cases for Pre-Emptive Treatment via Novel Biomarkers discovered through Protein Domain Analysis and Machine Learning

Physical Sciences 
Padmalakshmi Ramesh, Wyoming and Colorado, Laramie High School
A Novel Method to Analyze Thermonuclear Explosions in Four Binary Star Systems Using NASA’s High Time Resolution TESS Data

3rd Place Oral Presentations: earning $4,000 scholarships

Biomedical Sciences 
Maya Hammoud, Michigan, Detroit Country Day School
Decoding ASXL3: A Novel Biomarker and Treatment for Neurodevelopmental Disorders  

Chemistry
Avani Kaur, Virginia, Mills E. Godwin High School
Combating Alzheimer’s Disease: Design and Synthesis of a Novel Drug Molecule for Targeted Metal Chelation Therapy

Engineering and Technology
Maya Trutschl, Louisiana, Caddo Magnet High School
Mitigation of Pressure Injuries: Inertial Wearable and Computer Vision Approaches

Environmental Science
Lakshmi Agrawal, Washington, Interlake High School and Stanford Online High School
A Novel Method of Water Purification: Optimizing Foam Fractionation for Effective Broad-Spectrum Removal of DBP and DBP Precursors in Chlorinated Drinking Water

Life and Behavioral Sciences
Vinil Polepalli, New Jersey Southern, High Technology High School
Effects of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) and Piperine Compounds on the Regeneration of D. Tigrina

Math and Computer Science 
Brandon Bonamarte, Tennessee, Oak Ridge High School
Identifying Key Factors to Improve Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis with Machine Learning

Medicine and Health
Diya Shah, Texas, Plano East Senior High School
The Salt to My Pepper: Utilizing the Bioactive Descriptors of Piperoyl Piperidine on Drosophila Melanogaster as a Neoteric Treatment for Breast Cancer

Physical Sciences 
Marcus King, Illinois, Governor French Academy
Water World Exoplanet Atmospheric and Spectral Data Analysis via Thermodynamic Modeling and Unsupervised Machine Learning

1st Place Poster Presentations

Biomedical Sciences 
Hamsini Ramanathan, Washington, Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences (SAAS)

Chemistry 
Wanda Wu, Kentucky, duPont Manual High

Engineering and Technology
Anusha Agarwal, Greater Washington, D.C., Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

Environmental Science
Travis Osaki, Hawaii and Pacific, Pearl City High School

Life and Behavioral Sciences
Hailey Kim, Virtual, Marriotts Ridge High School

Math and Computer Science 
Henry Zou, Heartland, Johnston Senior High School

Medicine and Health
Roshan Amurthur, California Northern, The Harker School

Physical Sciences 
Aditya Sengupta, Washington, The Overlake School

2nd Place Poster Presentations

Biomedical Sciences 
Navneeth Badhri, Washington, Redmond High School

Chemistry 
Caleb Rowe, Heartland, Central City High School

Engineering and Technology
Jessie Brenay, DoDEA Europe, Kaiserslautern High School

Environmental Science
Riya Kalluvila, Wisconsin/Upper Peninsula Michigan, Hartford Union High School

Life and Behavioral Sciences
Norah Ahmed, Indiana, Evansville Day School

Math and Computer Science 
Sebastian Lashmet, New York-Upstate, Byram Hills High School

Medicine and Health
Rebecca Jacob, Ohio, Solon High School

Physical Sciences 
Max Berg, South Carolina, Spring Valley High School

3rd Place Poster Presentations

Biomedical Sciences 
Pavan Subramani, West Virginia, Morgantown High School

Chemistry 
Michelle Diep, Georgia, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology

Engineering and Technology
Alexandra Sigmond, North Central, Breck School

Environmental Science
Jordan Chong, Intermountain, Davidson Academy

Life and Behavioral Sciences
Riya Raina, New York-Upstate, Briarcliff High School

Math and Computer Science 
Daniel Han, New Jersey Northern, Millburn High School

Medicine and Health
Miyeong Berran, DoDEA Pacific, Humphreys High School

Physical Sciences 
Daniela Méndez Cora, Puerto Rico, Escuela Especializada en Ciencias y Matemáticas Genaro Cautiño

About Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) is a Department of Defense sponsored STEM competition (U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force) that encourages high school students to conduct original research in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and publicly recognizes students for outstanding achievement. By connecting talented students, their teachers, and research professionals at affiliated symposia and by rewarding research excellence, JSHS aims to widen the pool of trained talent prepared to conduct research and development vital to our nation. JSHS regional and national symposia are held during the academic year and reach thousands of high school students and teachers throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Department of Defense Schools of Europe and the Pacific. Students must first participate in their regional symposium where they compete for selection to present at the national symposium each year. JSHS is administered by the National Science Teaching Association. For more information, please visit www.jshs.org. 

About NSTA
The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) is a vibrant community of 35,000 science educators and professionals committed to best practices in teaching science and its impact on student learning. NSTA offers high-quality science resources and continuous learning so that science educators grow professionally and excel in their career. For new and experienced teachers alike, the NSTA community offers the opportunity to network with like-minded peers at the national level, connect with mentors and leading researchers, and learn from the best in the field. For more information, visit www.nsta.org, or follow NSTA on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

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Contact
Winnie S. Boyle
703.312.0387
wboyle@nsta.org