[Ohiogift] Davidson Fellows, fwd.

[Margaret DeLacy]

Contact: Melissa Lance, Davidson Institute
DavidsonFellowsMedia at DavidsonGifted.org, 775-852-3483 ext. 425 

TALENTED YOUTH EMBRACE CHALLENGE TO EXCEL

22 Students Named 2012 Davidson Fellows and Receive $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 Scholarships

Reno, Nev. – Producing highly-qualified professionals, including scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs is critical to maintaining economic productivity in the United States. Public discourse on our nation’s competitiveness tends to focus on the needs of low-performing students. As important to our country’s future success are the most capable of students, who are reaching high levels of academic excellence and, if given the proper support, can help propel the U.S. forward in an ever-competitive world.

Among these high achievers, 22 bright young people named as 2012 Davidson Fellows 
exemplify the extraordinary work that can be accomplished by U.S. students who are given opportunities to excel. 

The Davidson Fellows program offers $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships to students 18 or younger, who have created significant projects that have the potential to benefit society in the fields of science, technology, mathematics, literature, music and philosophy. The Davidson Fellows scholarship program has provided nearly $5 million in scholarship funds to 206 Fellows since its inception in 2001, and has been named one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships by U.S. News & World Report.

 The Davidson Fellows is a program of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Reno, Nev. that supports profoundly gifted youth. 

“The Davidson Institute is built on the belief that individuals, who have extraordinary intelligence and talents, when encouraged and supported, can improve the quality of life for us all,” said Bob Davidson, co-founder of the Davidson Institute. “We are delighted to recognize this group of resourceful and distinguished young people for their fascinating projects – projects that have the potential to benefit society.”

Positive contributions to society made by the 2012 Davidson Fellows include:
·       Discovering how intracellular signaling in plants works to produce an effective immune response against bacterial pathogens. 
·       Contributing to a better understanding of consciousness with implications in fields ranging from medicine to artificial intelligence. 
·       Identifying the biomechanism to provide a therapeutic target to curing Parkinson’s disease.
· Investigating a tumor suppressor gene and its usefulness as a biomarker for liver cancer.
· Fabricating a novel dual hydrogen production and water purification device using wastewater as its sole fuel source.
· Developing algae as an effective oil source for biodiesel.

The 2012 Davidson Fellows Award Ceremony is scheduled for Wed., Oct. 3 in Washington, D.C. with all scholarship recipients attending.

The following students are this year’s Davidson Fellows:

2012 Davidson Fellow Laureates
$50,000 Scholarships
·       Mr. David Ding, 18, Albany, Calif.; Infinitesimal Cherednik Algebras of gl_n 
·       Mr. Manoj Kanagaraj, 18, Chino Hills, Calif.: A Novel Mechanism for HER2 Targeted Drug Resistance: The Role of t-DARPP in a Compensatory Signaling Shift Between the EGFR and HER2 Pathways 
·       Miss Sara Volz, 17, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Enhancing Algae Biofuels: Investigation of the Environmental and Enzymatic Factors Effecting Algal Lipid Synthesis 
·       Mr. Michael Yan, 18, Pepper Pike, Ohio; Genetic Mutation of LRRK2 Causes Autosomal Parkinson’s Disease by Disrupting Mitochondrial Dynamics

2012 Davidson Fellows

$25,000 Scholarships
·       Mr. Nathan Chan, 18, Burlingame, Calif.; The Importance of Passion 
·       Miss Ashley George, 18, Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.; Creating a Framework for a Flexible, Biodegradable, and Biocompatible Gelatin-Chitosan Biosensor 
·       Mr. Philip He, 17, Okemos, Mich.; A Novel Role of an Actin Capping Protein in Plant Immune Signaling 
·       Mr. Duligur Ibeling, 18, Osseo, Minn.; The Metallicity-Dependent Transition between White Dwarfs and Type II Supernovae 
·       Mr. Ryota Ishizuka, 18, Cos Cob, Conn.; Optimization of a Microbial Fuel Cell to Drive a Bioelectrochemically Assisted Wastewater Treatment Reactor 
·       Miss Nina Lu, 18, Rockville, Md.; Determination of Binding Energy Hotspots on a Broadly-Neutralizing Antibody against HIV-1 
·       Miss Naomi Shah, 17, Portland, Ore.; An Experimental Study of the Impact of Airborne Pollutants on the Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) Rate of Asthmatic Subjects PLUS A Novel Risk Assessment Model to Predict the Effect of PM10 and TVOC on the PEF Rate
· Mr. Lijia Xie, 17, Lansdale, Pa.; Location Matters - Specificity of the RASSF1A gene as a biomarker for the detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

$10,000 Scholarships
·       Mr. Saumil Bandyopadhyay, 17, Glen Allen, Va.; A novel frequency-selective detector of light and ß radiation implemented with self-assembled quantum wires: An application of quantum-mechanical wavefunction and density-of-states engineering 
·       Mr. Alex Chen, 16, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.; A Maximum Power Point Tracking Hardware with an Improved Hill Climbing Algorithm 
·       Mr. Sitan Chen, 17, Suwanee, Ga.; On the Rank Number of Grid Graphs 
·       Miss Ioana Grosu, 17, Troy, Mich.; Consciousness and the Hard Problem: Discovering the Mind 
·       Mr. Bryan He, 18, Buffalo, N.Y.; A Simple Optimal Binary Representation of Mosaic Floorplans and Baxter Permutations 
·       Mr. Xiaoyu He, 18, Acton, Mass.; On the Classification of Universal Rotor-Routers 
·       Mr. Kamden Hilliard, 18, Mililani, Hawaii.; Reflections on Everything There Ever Was 
·       Mr. Ian McKeachie, 16, Reno, Nev.; Attitudes of Existence 
·       Miss Vaishnavi Rao, 17, San Diego, Calif.; Activity-dependent Regulation of Nitric Oxide Expression: Novel Form of Neurotransmitter Plasticity 
·       Mr. Anand Srinivasan, Roswell, Ga.; "Doc Ock" - Development of Novel Filtration Techniques to Facilitate Accurate Pattern Detection in EEG Signals

About the Davidson Institute

Founded by Bob and Jan Davidson in 1999, the Davidson Institute for Talent Development recognizes, nurtures and supports profoundly intelligent young people, and provides opportunities for them to develop their talents to make a positive difference. The Institute offers support through a number of programs and services, including the Davidson Fellows and The Davidson Academy of Nevada. For more information about the 2012 Davidson Fellows, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org/Fellows. 
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