Krish Pai wins $50,000 second Regeneron Young Scientist Award

Krish Pai, a 17-year-old Indian American student from Del Mar, California, received the second Regeneron Young Scientist Award of $50,000 in the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest pre-college science and engineering competition.

He won the prize for his machine-learning research to identify microbial genetic sequences that can be modified to biodegrade plastic, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Society for Science announced May 17.

READ: Achyuta Rajaram wins $250,000 top award in Regeneron Science Talent Search (March 15, 2024)

Pai’s new software, called Microby, scans databases of microorganisms and determines which ones can be changed genetically to biodegrade plastics. In tests, he identified two microorganisms that can be genetically modified to degrade plastic at a cost he believes would be ten times less than traditional recycling.

Grace Sun, 16, of Lexington, Kentucky, won the $75,000 top award, the George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award, named in honor of the pioneering drug researcher and Regeneron co-Founder, Board co-Chair, President and Chief Scientific Officer.

READ: Saathvik Kannan wins $50,000 Regeneron Young Scientist Award (May 31, 2023)

The top winners were honored during two award ceremonies: the Special Awards on May 16 and the Grand Awards Ceremony on the morning of May 17. In total, over $9 million was awarded to the finalists based on their projects’ creativity, innovation and depth of scientific inquiry.

The competition featured nearly 2,000 young scientists representing 49 US states and nearly 70 countries, regions and territories across the world.

“Congratulations to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2024 winners,” said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO, Society for Science and Executive Publisher, Science News.

READ: Three Indian Americans among top ten in Regeneron Science Talent Search (March 24, 2022)

“I’m truly inspired by the ingenuity and determination shown by these remarkable students. Coming from around the world with diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines, these students have shown that it is possible to come together in unity to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our world today, and I could not be prouder.”

Other top Indian American winners included Tanishka Balaji Aglave, 15, of Valrico, Florida; and Ria Kamat, 17, of Hackensack, New Jersey.

READ: Four Indian American teens among top winners in 2021 Regeneron Science Talent Search (March 20, 2021)

Aglave received the H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research of $10,000 for her investigation into a natural alternative treatment against citrus greening, a disease that threatens citrus farming in many parts of the world and is currently only treated with antibiotics.

She injected the trunks of infected trees with an extract from the curry leaf tree and found through tests that this potential method could effectively and sustainably manage citrus greening disease.

Kamat, a student at Bergen County Academies, received the Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award, which provides finalists an all-expense paid trip to attend the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Her project examined the relationship between tumor-induced Osteoclastogenesis and Osteoprotegerin.

In addition to the top award winners, ten other Indian Americans were among the 450 finalists who were recognized for their innovative research.

“First Award” winners, who each received a $5,000 prize include: Ayush Garg, Dublin, California; Divij Motwani, Palo Alto, California; Akash Ashish Pai, Portland, Oregon (Biomedical Engineering); Akilan Sankaran, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Arjun Suresh Malpani and Siddharth Daniel D’costa, Portland, Oregon (Chemistry); Nikhil Vemuri, Durham, North Carolina (Earth and Environmental Sciences); Harini Thiagarajan and Vishal Ranganath Yalla, Bothell, Washington (Physics and Astronomy); Anant Khandelwal, Sritan Motati and Siddhant Sood, Alexandria, Virginia (Technology Enhances the Art.

READ MORE:

Five Indian Americans in Regeneron Science Talent Search finals (January 25, 2023)

70 Indian Americans among Regeneron Science Talent Search toppers (January 7, 2022)

Indian American finalists in the 2021 Regeneron Science Talent Search aim to tackle world’s vexing problems (February 4, 2021)

Nine Indian American teens among 2020 Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists (January 23, 2020)