The 28th Annual High School Research Poster Session

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Winners

Biology

  • First place: Luca Nedelkovic,  Stuyvesant High School
    "Artificial Differentiation of Monocytes"
  • Second Place: Shayna Wilson, Stuyvesant High School
    "Effects of Carvacrol and High-Pressure Processing (HPP) on Salmonella"
  • Honorable Mention: Johan Claros, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast Tested for Allergens affected by Climate"
  • Honorable Mention: Zamir Karim, Stuyvesant High School
    "The Effects of Sepsis on the Rates of Cellular Senescence"
  • Honorable Mention: Danna Penagos and Albjona Zhuka, Francis Lewis High School
    "The Effect of Rocoto Pepper at Varying Concentrations on Parkinson’s Disease in C. elegans Models"
  • Honorable Mention: Kristina Torres, High Tech High School
    "Combined Effect of Antibiotics & Natural Remedies"
  • Honorable Mention: Jing Huang, Edward R Murrow High School
    "Assessment of using Filamentous Fungi for Biodegradation of Oil"
  • Honorable Mention: Camila Medrano, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "The Gut-Brain Axis: Exploring The Therapeutic Potential Of Serotonin-Modulating Supplements On Gut Microbiota"
  • Honorable Mention: Skylar Aaron, Stuyvesant High School
    "PBMC Viability vs. Age, Sex, Diagnosis, and Time Between Collection and Processing"
  • Honorable Mention: Angelo Pallotto, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "Visual Analysis of CD4 T-Helper Cells in Mouse Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Treated with Novel Alpha-Galactosyltransferase Gene Therapy"

Chemistry and Physics

  • First Place: Manuel Ramos and Amy Huang, Edward R Murrow High School
    "Application of the Freundlich Isotherm Kinetics Model on Biosorption of Copper (II) Ions at Different pHs Using Oryza sativa Husks"
  • Second Place: Eldana Teklu, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "The Effects of Boswellia Papyrifera Resin Extract on the NF-Kb Pathways in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis"
  • Honorable Mention: Dominique Valencia, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "Synthesis and Characterization of High Temperature Superconductors"

Math and Computer Science

  • First Place: Carolyn Eloy, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "Smartphone App For Rail Track Maintenance Prioritization"
  • Second Place: Lehansa Marambage, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "NeuroNet: Enabling the Early Detection of Time-Sensitive 911 Stroke Cases and Stroke Severity Ranking via a Novel Mel-Spectrogram Audio-based and Text-based Analysis of 911 Calls"
  • Honorable Mention: Yohan Gil, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "Machine Learning Modeling For Determining Stable Manganese Oxide Materials"

Social and Behavoiral Science

  • First Place: Evan Goodman, Stuyvesant High School
    "Evaluating Dissemination and Safety of Fitness Content for Adolescents on Instagram"
  • Second Place: Jamsha Concepcion, Jose Marti STEM Academy
    "Poland Spring Sets The Standard For Water Safety"
  • Honorable Mention: Nikhil Sethi, Stuyvesant High School
    "Quantifying Short-Run Stock Market Sensitivity to Clean-Energy Announcements"
  • Honorable Mention: Eric Wang, Brian Gao, and Areetha Naira, Francis Lewis High School
    "Combined Effect Of Popular Sound Effects, Notifications, and Visual Memes On Human Reaction Time"

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

"How Molecules Come Together to Form Bioinspired Materials"

Subhasish Chatterjee, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Physical Sciences at St. Joseph’s University, New York

Molecular self-assembly—the process by which molecular building blocks spontaneously organize into larger structures—is central to how many biological and bioinspired materials form and function cooperatively. Examples include materials involved in structural color, light harvesting, microbial behavior, and environmentally relevant processes. Research in this area seeks to understand how simple molecular interactions give rise to complex material properties. This interdisciplinary work combines experiments and computer simulations to examine the structure, dynamics, and mechanical behavior of soft materials across molecular and nanoscale length scales. Recent studies highlight how molecular structure influences material function, with relevance to emerging applications in systems chemistry, biotechnology, and nanoscience.

Subhasish Chatterjee is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at St. Joseph’s University, New York (Brooklyn campus). He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry, specializing in Molecular Biophysics, from the CUNY Graduate Center. His research involves biomaterials, spectroscopy, and computer simulations. He has taught and mentored undergraduate and high school students at several institutions and has collaborated with research centers, including the New York Structural Biology Center and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge those who worked to make this event a success:

Chairperson

Tess Dussling, Ph.D.

Event Coordinators

  • Jeonghee Kang, Ph.D.
  • Anna Egbert, Ph.D.
  • Asher Roberts, Ph.D.
  • Bor-Shuen Wang, Ph.D.
  • João Marcelo Ribeiro, Ph.D.

Judges

Kaylee Finch Kleopatra Garo
Luis Guerrero Milana Haripersaud
Medinah Joseph Sulabh Katila
Ritika Kaul Cari Kocher
Kevin Kolack Jong Lee
Sunwoo Lee Yarim Lee
Olivia Lieto Juan Luxama
Michael Magee Anastajia Melika
Zeinab Mohamed Kayla Mombrun
James Oates Nora Plante
Binita Pokharel Asher Roberts
Nicholas Shlimov Drishya Shrestha
Anjala Tamang Benedick Turner
Bor-Shuen Wang  

Volunteers

  • Bryan Garcia
  • Mary Younan
  • Gabriella Albizuri
  • Kadijatu Jalloh
  • Kylie Patton
  • Kerese Mitchell
  • Joy Huang
  • Jizelle Velazquez