Saline student wins prestigious $250,000 science award
A senior at Saline High School won the top $250,000 award in a prestigious science and math competition.
Neel Moudgal, 17, was awarded the prize in the national Regeneron Science Talent Search.
He created a computer model that can predict the structure of RNA molecules using easily accessible data, an invention that could make it easier to diagnose and treat certain diseases.
The prize was announced Tuesday night during Regeneron’s annual awards banquet in Washington, D.C.
Existing tools predict RNA structure by using measurements of magnetic vibration of atoms collected from nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers. They rely on assigning chemical shift values to each atom in a molecule, which is sometimes impossible, according to a release from Regeneron.
Moudgal’s model contains a variety of shapes for an RNA molecule based on its atomic structure. A statistical method assigns weights to each structure, eliminating the need to assign chemical shift data.
Separate from the competition, he wrote an article about his work for the Journal of Physical Chemistry A and worked on a review paper on oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysis for carbon dioxide reduction.
At Saline High School, Moudgal is captain of the varsity quiz bowl team and a programmer for the robotics team.
He’s also a teacher’s assistant for special-needs children, and is a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo.
He said his interest in chemistry and geology comes from his love of studying minerals. He has collected hundreds of rocks and minerals from around the world since he was 6.
The Regeneron Science Talent Search, which was founded by the Society for Science, is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.
Search program alumni include recipients of the world's most coveted science and math honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes, 13 National Medals of Science, six Breakthrough Prizes, 22 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and two Fields Medals, according to the release.
Besides Moudgal’s top prize of $250,000, 30 finalists were awarded $25,000 each, according to the contest.