Progenics-Westchester Science and Engineering Fair Announces Local High School Finalists to Compete at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. -- High School Scientists Research Breast Cancer, Endangered Species Breeding, Viral Infection, Robotic Engineering and Cardiovascular Disease 

Progenics-Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (Progenics-WESEF) today announced the winners of this year's high school science competition. The eight individual finalists and two team finalists will be traveling to Phoenix, Arizona for the Intel-International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May. Progenics-WESEF attracted contestants from 24 schools from across Westchester and Putnam counties with 149 students participating in this year's fair. The annual event was held at Pace University in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. on Saturday, March 19, 2005 and was co-sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Fuji Films, Pepsi Bottling Group and Ciba Specialty Chemicals.

The students conducted research which allowed them to work with professionals in their chosen field, including embryonic brain development; accuracy of tests for E. coli; robotic visual aid programs; gender stereo-typing; and skin cancer.

"In past years, WESEF finalists have gone on to win major college scholarships, participation at NASA space camp and other prizes exceeding $500,000," said Michael Blueglass, Progenics-WESEF Director and the head of Yorktown High School's Science Research Program. "Students conducted research in medicine/health, biochemistry, mathematics, earth and space science, behavioral science, zoology and other areas. We expect that this year's finalists will continue to be a strong reflection on the talents of our young, dual-county scientists and our region's high level of science research education."

The Progenics-WESEF finalists selected to participate in the 2005 Intel-ISEF include:

--Dan Katz (Ossining HS) Category - Behavioral Science. Title - "Functional Magnetic Resonance Imagine Observation of Neuronal Response to Food Stimuli in Humans"

--Meredith Spadaccia (Yorktown HS) Category - Biochemistry Title - "Investigating the Role of PTEN in Modulating the Insulin Signaling Pathway to Treat Type 2 Diabetes"

--Ruonan Cheng (Yorktown HS) Category - Biochemistry. Title - "Identification and Analysis of Mutations in the RP1 Gene for the Creation of the RP Microarray Chip"

--Max Christie (Ossining HS) Category - Medicine & Health. Title - "Cognitive Impairment Due to Epileptic Foci in the NeoCortex"

--Christina Tartaglia (Rye Neck HS) Category - Medicine & Health. Title - SCFv Antibodies for Therapy of IgA Nephropathy"

--Matt Huang (Scarsdale HS) Category - Mathematics. Title - Minimizing Inconvenience in Directed Edges"

--Jason Zhang (Yorktown HS) Category - Biochemistry. Title - "The Development of a Novel Gene Knockout Technique Utilizing RNA Interference"

--Aaron Kuan (Horace Greeley HS) Category - Environmental Science. Title - "Inhibition of Photosynthesis by Air Pollutants Quantified with the Photoacoustic Method"

--Anjuli Kannan & Lauren Toub (Yorktown HS Team) Category - Medicine & Health. Title - "The Possible of Role of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in the Effect of the Choroid Plexus on Cortical Neurons"

--Chris McCann & Richard Odlum (Yorktown HS Team) Category - Engineering. Title - "Increasing the Efficiency of a Robotic System Using a Visual Aid Program"

"Many world-class scientists received their start at regional science competitions like Progenics-WESEF," said Paul J. Maddon, M.D., Ph.D., Progenics' founder and Chief Executive Officer. "We are proud to sponsor these outstanding students who have demonstrated a high degree of creativity in conducting original scientific research. Their parents, schools and science research teachers are the cornerstone their educational advancement, and these students will show the international community the kind of education our community has to offer."

ISEF is considered the world's largest pre-college science competition ("the Olympics of Science Fairs"), bringing together more than 1,400 students from around the world that will compete over four days for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips and the grand prize: $50,000 college scholarship and a trip to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden.