San Antonio teen competing in prestigious science event
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Hannah Guan is a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. Photo: Courtesy of Hannah Guan
Hannah Guan, a 16-year-old BASIS San Antonio student, is one of 40 finalists from 1,900 applicants selected for the Regeneron Science Talent Search, a national competition founded in 1942 for high school seniors.
Why it matters: According to the Society of Science, which organizes the competition, Guan is the first San Antonian to compete since 1990, when Sean McGuire, a Keystone School student, was a finalist.
What she did: Guan spent six years building the Multi-Dimensional Interpretable Interaction Network, which models how a person's health evolves with age.
- Guan used a public data set of vitals for 27 people over a 22-year span to test her software.
- "The end goal is to be able to take in a patient's vitals to output the person's health trajectory and survival rates," Guan says.
What she found: The COVID-19 pandemic presented Guan an opportunity to expand her research. While she was inspired by similar models, Guan noticed a gap that did not include pre-existing conditions.
- She readjusted her model to account for how age or health conditions would affect a COVID-19 patient's trajectory.
Zoom in: Guan says her research was inspired by the area's older residents, specifically 2020 census data that showed Bexar County's 70- to 74-year-old population increased 60% between 2010 and 2019.
- Her motivation was galvanized when her neighbors in the north side neighborhood where she lives were hospitalized due to COVID-19.
What's they're saying: Maya Ajmera, CEO of Society for Science, said the competition identifies the next generation of scientists.
- "She (Guan) is one of the top thinkers and leaders in science and engineering," Ajmara tells Axios.
What's next: Ten Regeneron Science Talent Search winners, who will receive $40,000 to $250,000, will be announced during a livestreamed ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 14.
- The finalists will spend the week leading up to the announcement in Washington, where they will undergo an intense interview process and meet with science leaders from their respective regions.
- Guan was accepted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was also awarded $25,000 as a finalist, which she will use to expand her model.