On Board Online • February 2, 2026
By Rick Karlin
Special Correspondent
Improved breast cancer detection, new approaches for tackling water pollution and advanced computer modeling with implications for artificial intelligence were among award-winning projects that New York students developed for the 2025 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
Tarrytown-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals sponsored the competition, which brought together nearly 1,700 young scientists representing 48 U.S. states and more than 60 countries, regions and territories. More than $9 million in awards and scholarships were distributed, honoring finalists for their creativity, innovative thinking and scientific rigor.
"It's an amazing science research program," said Risa Seelenfreund, whose son Cory, 17, won two awards worth $16,000 in the 2025 competition. Cory was valedictorian of New Rochelle High School and now attends the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Here are profiles of several notable projects that won prizes in 2025, including Cory's.
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Game theory is a branch of mathematics that examines how individuals can make better decisions. One well-known exercise called the Prisoner's Dilemma examines the trade-offs when individuals have an opportunity to cooperate with an ally but may perceive it better to act solely in their own self-interest.
In the Prisoner's Dilemma, which was developed by the RAND Corporation in the 1950s, two criminals who committed an offense together are interviewed separately by police. If both remain silent, each will end up getting a short sentence. If one confesses but the other doesn't, the snitch will get off but his co-conspirator will get a long sentence. If they both confess, they both get medium-length sentences.
Seelenfreund, the recent New Rochelle graduate, studied the relevance of memory in the Prisoner's Dilemma. He used high-powered computer modeling that allowed him to run millions of possible outcomes.
Developing the project was a long-term affair. For an earlier science fair, Seelenfreund had applied mathematical models to the game of Monopoly, trying to calculate how much one could win based on the colors of various properties. That was his introduction to game theory.
Knowing he wanted to continue his work in that vein, he reached out by email to various researchers who could serve as advisors and mentors. While that can be a painstaking exercise - many potential mentors are too busy or don't respond to such requests - Seelenfreund got lucky when he quickly connected with Nikoleta Glynatsi, a Greek mathematician who applies game theory to social interactions. She is currently doing research in Japan.
"We talked a bunch trying to brainstorm new ideas," Seelenfreund said. Communicating by email, they settled on the Prisoner's Dilemma project in June 2024.
"I did the grunt work," Seelenfreund said, explaining that he had to develop a code to simulate the various responses to questions. First, though, he had to teach himself the Python computer programming language.
Glynatsi, who was fluent in Python, helped him surmount some initial bugs, and they were able to model millions of responses in which hypothetical participants were questioned.
Seelenfreund examined the effect of giving these players different degrees of memory about what happened in prior scenarios.
Here is how the judges summarized the significance of his findings: "Memory of just one game often improved results, but players with better memory won in more complex scenarios. He found the best outcomes when players had a variety of self-interested and altruistic behaviors. These findings can help design smarter AI bots and other programs that need to 'get along' with humans."
In addition to winning first place in the mathematics category, worth $6,000, Seelenfreund won one of several special awards- the $10,000 Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication.
He said he plans to continue studying mathematical modeling in college while also pursuing another passion - playing the clarinet. He played in the all-state orchestra and has entered clarinet competitions.
Math and music aren't so different, he said. "I feel like the same muscles in my brain are working," he said.
Affordable pollution control
After their respective families moved to Long Island, two students at Manhasset High School collaborated on a project called "Photocatalytic Composites for Highly Efficient and Eco-Friendly Organic Pollutant Degradation."
Isabel Gonzalez was a transplanted Floridian, and Lucienne Keyoung was originally from coastal California. The two became interested in algae blooms after Keyoung noticed one during a trip to Florida.
"We both saw how vital of a resource water is," Keyoung said. While taking advanced chemistry courses, the two decided to do a project on mitigating water pollution.
They opted to see how specific substances could break down pollutants such as oil from oil spills and chemical dyes used in the textile industry, particularly in Bangladesh.
They decided against using algae because it's smelly. "We didn't want to be hated by our lab," Keyoung said.
So, what else can break down pollutants? The pair scoured scientific journals and tried a variety of techniques. They were advised by Alison Huenger, Manhasset High School's science research teacher, who has an academic background in chemistry.
"There were rabbit holes," said Gonzalez. "A lot of trial and error."
One problem with existing pollution abatement methods is cost. The two students wanted to identify an economical method.
By September 2024, they started running experiments in their lab using a combination of titanium dioxide, silver and naturally occurring nanotubes. Those are plant components, which along with sunlight or UV rays, can break down some of the dyes.
That study got them second place in the Regeneron contest's chemistry category. They split the award of $2,400.
The students said it's too early to say if their pollution control method could be adopted at an industrial scale. They have spoken with officials at the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District about it, though.
Both plan to continue their research in college and in advanced chemical labs.
"We just hope that our research here can inspire other young scientists and especially girls," said Keyoung.
Better breast cancer screening
"My project really came from breast cancer's prevalence," said Emma Zhang, a senior at Williamsville North High School in western New York.
"The biggest problem with screening right now is it's not caught early enough."
Popular methods - mammograms and ultrasound - are uncomfortable and less than 100 percent accurate, she said.
"There is a lot of misinterpretation. It's a very subjective reading."
That led to her project, a presentation on "The Future of Breast Cancer Screening: AI-Based Photoacoustic Imaging."
Zhang worked with Jun Xia and other researchers at the University at Buffalo who are exploring the use of lasers and artificial intelligence to detect early stages of breast cancer. She was advised by Angela Szwed, a guidance counselor at her school.
At the University at Buffalo, researchers aim a laser at a subject's breast. If there is a tumor that could be cancer, there would be more blood vessels. The laser stimulates hemoglobin in the blood vessels that create a readable pressure wave or an acoustic image, explained Zhang.
The challenge then becomes interpreting the pressure wave to see if it signifies a tumor. That's where the potential of AI comes into play. Working with data from 36 patients who had biopsies that showed cancer, Zhang found that photoacoustic imaging combined with a specific machine learning model was 77% accurate in detecting breast cancer. She concluded that the technology is promising and deserves larger scale research.
Zhang won $2,400 and second place in the Regeneron contest category of biomedical engineering.
Zhang hopes to pursue both a medical career as a physician and a research scientist. One of her big inspirations is her mother, a pathologist.
Zhang has other interests as well including addressing hunger, which prompted her to start an organization to improve childhood nutrition.
"I love getting out in the community and getting involved," she said.