Jericho High contestant says everyone's a winner at Regeneron science finals

Ashka Shah, a senior at Jericho High School, said despite missing out on the top prize, she sensed victory as she joined her fellow finalists Tuesday at the Regeneron Science Talent Search in Washington D.C.

Through years of research into the cell-to-cell spread of cancer, Newsday reported in January, Shah earned her place among the 40 high school students still standing for the 2026 finals, which wrapped up Tuesday evening.

"I am ecstatic, everybody here is a winner," Shah, 17, of Jericho, told Newsday in a telephone interview late Tuesday.

"It has been literally an experience like no other," she added. "You’re surrounded by the 39 other brightest high schoolers in the nation along with alumni of the Society for Science who have made amazing innovations like the micro processing chip ... It’s been an honor to get to speak with them and pick their brain."

Shat and the other finalists donned formal attire Tuesday evening for a ceremony announcing the 10 recipients of ncrementally larger financial prizes after a weeklong competition. Shah, 17, and the other contestants who fell short of the top 10, were awarded $25,000 each, according to a joint news release from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Society for Science, the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that runs the competition.

Over a three-year span, Shah conducted a graduate-level wet lab research project using fruit flies and liver cancer cells, she said.

She researched how the Wnt signaling system — a cell-to-cell communication network in the human body that regulates healthy cell growth — can spread a mutated protein that activates genes that cause cancer, according to the Society for Science.

"I found a way to selectively inhibit this cancerous process without harming normal processes and functions," Shah said. "It's a step towards more precise treatments for cancers and other neurological disorders."

When Shah was not on field trips to research labs or meeting scientific minds during her all-expenses-paid trip to D.C., she was questioned by Society of Science judges on her "ability to think as a scientist and problem solve" as well as about her research project.

"I learned that you should never fit yourself into a box" and focus on a single area of science, Shah said of the past week. "Everyone here is so well-rounded and curious. It’s important to explore everything and stay curious about all areas of science."

This year's finalists embarked on research projects across a range of disciplines, including computer science, environmental science, mathematics and medicine and health, according to the release.

The first place prize of $250,000 went to Connor Hill, 17, of State College, Pennsylvania, who developed a computer program to "identify all the possible ‘noble polyhedra,’ highly symmetric shapes with flat sides and straight edges," according to the release.

Edward Kang, 17, of Hackensack, New Jersey, earned the $175,000 second prize for "using retinal images to train AI models on subtle patterns linked to autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to create a screening tool called RetinaMind," the release said.

Iris Shen, 17, of The Woodlands, Texas, took home the $150,000 third place prize for "testing a potential cancer drug in clams to see if they could serve as an animal model for blood cancer drug discovery," according to the release.

Other top 10 finalists included Rachel Chen, 18, of Los Angeles; Jerry Xu, 17, of Lexington, Massachusetts; Leanne Fan, 18, of San Diego; Claire Jiang, 18, of Wyckoff, New Jersey; Leon Wang, 17, of Stamford, Connecticut; Jonathan Du, 18, of Mountain View, California; and Seth Nabat, 18, of Winnetka, California.