More than 300 Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) high school students participated in the 43rd Annual LCPS Regional Science and Engineering Fair (RSEF) March 19-20, 2025, at John Champe High School. Seven student finalists were selected to participate in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2025, the world’s largest pre-college STEM competition, May 11-16, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center:
Naija Shah (12th grade, John Champe HS & Academy of Science) and Sanjay Lakshmanan (12th grade, Independence HS & Academy of Science); Project titled: Limiting Esophageal Cancer Metastasis with KRT16 siRNA.
Nithya Vinodh (12th grade John Champe HS & Academy of Science); Project titled: Determining Small Molecule Inhibitors of Calpain to Promote Cholesterol Efflux in Macrophage-Derived Foam Cells.
Naitik Oza (10th grade, Freedom HS); Project titled: Development of a Novel Multi-Omics Enhanced QSAR (ME-QSAR) Model for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Inhibitor Discovery.
Taha Rawjani (11th grade, Independence HS & Academy of Engineering & Technology) and Matthew Li (11th grade, Independence HS & Academy of Engineering & Technology); Project titled: Implementation of a Real-Time Right Whale Detection Network and API Utilizing a Series of Buoy Floatation Devices With a Custom Spectrogram-Based CNN.
Yash Sreepathi (11th grade, Broad Run HS); Project titled: Utilizing Grad-CAM Thresholding Techniques to Improve AI Interpretability in Prostate Cancer Risk Stratification from MRI
In addition to the finalists, Naija Shah, a senior at John Champe High School & the Academies of Loudoun, received the annual Willowcroft Science Scholarship. The $7,000 scholarship, sponsored by Willowcroft Farm Vineyards since 1991, was awarded to Shah, for her overall potential for success in science.
Willowcroft Farm Vineyards also recognized Dr. Melissa Willis, a science teacher at the Academies of Loudoun, with a $7,000 award for her work in science with students.
More information, including all category and special award winners, can be found on the RSEF website.