Highlights & Awards

2026 High School Student Symposium: Highlights & Awards

The 2026 High School Student Symposium brought together students, scientists, educators, and mentors for a day of scientific discovery, communication, and engagement. Students shared their work through oral presentations, lightning talks, and poster presentations, exchanged ideas with fellow participants and researchers, and explored opportunities in biomedical science and research.

This page celebrates the students' uccesses. Explore symposium highlights, student reflections, award-winning presentations, Team Excellence Awards, and Scientific Engagement Awards, recognizing not only excellence in research and scientific communication but also curiosity, teamwork, and active participation.

We are proud of every student who took the initiative to present, ask questions, exchange ideas, and contribute to our growing community of young scientists.

2026 High School Student Symposium Awardees

Congratulations to all of our outstanding student presenters and their mentors! We are proud to recognize the following awardees for their excellence in scientific research, communication, teamwork, and engagement.

🏆 Outstanding Research Oral Presentation

Kevin Hu & Emily Zhang
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions
Mentor: Dr. Weiyi Peng

Anjali Shah
The Awty International School
Mentor: Dr. Natasha Kirienko

Emin L. Gokdere
Carnegie Vanguard High School
Mentor: Dr. Abbas Rana

Elaine Wang
Bellaire High School
Mentor: Dr. Ahmad Rao

Kathy Yang, Maurya Paruchuri & Devan Nair
St. John's School • Tompkins High School • Stephen F. Austin High School
Mentor: Dr. Qin Feng

🏆 Outstanding ASPIRATION Oral Presentation

Evania John, Peter Kim & Ridhi Venna
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions • Obra D. Tompkins High School • Elkins High School
Mentor: My Nguyen

Evelyn Zhang, Hanlin Li, Joshua Meng, Olivia Chu, Shaopan Gao & Richard Keck
Carnegie Vanguard High School • Glenda Dawson High School • William P. Clements High School • Shadow Creek High School
Mentor: Tolulope Adebusuyi

Elysse Wu & Aashmit Chandra
Whitney High School • Dulles High School
Mentor: Dr. Xingyao Li

Abigail Chu, Harshil Aradhya & Joshua Wang
The Woodlands High School • Glenda Dawson High School • Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
Mentor: Cheng-En Shen

🏆 Outstanding Lightning Talk

Hanlin Li
Carnegie Vanguard High School
Mentor: Dr. Sri Lakshmi Chalasani

Zuhair Sidiq & Ahan Guha Bakshi
Michael E. DeBakey High School • Seven Lakes High School
Mentor: Dr. Nandan Kumar Mondal

Tiffany Yuan
William P. Clements High School
Mentor: Yahan Deng

Shaopan Gao
William P. Clements High School
Mentor: Dr. Scott Widmann

Brianna Hu
William P. Clements High School
Mentor: Mason Flores

🏆 Outstanding Research Poster Presentation

Kevin Hu & Emily Zhang
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions
Mentor: Dr. Weiyi Peng

Anjali Shah
The Awty International School
Mentor: Dr. Natasha Kirienko

Victoria Wang & Evan Xiao
Bellaire High School • Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
Mentor: Dr. Roshni T. Jaffery

Danica Du
St. Agnes Academy
Mentor: Dr. Subhrangsu Mandal

Vedaant Kumar
James E. Taylor High School
Mentor: Dr. Meenakshi Gopalkrishna Hegde

🏆 Outstanding ASPIRATION Poster Presentation

Yejin Lee, Lucas Osborne & Kanha Singh
Glenda Dawson High School • Liberal Arts & Science Academy • Jordan High School
Mentor: Eric Chang

Rachael Clark, Adarsh Mohanty & Yu Wang
William P. Clements High School • Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions • Glenda Dawson High School
Mentor: Sophia Huang

Lillian Ho, Lipi Hegde & Avyukth Venganti
Carnegie Vanguard High School • William P. Clements High School • Coppell High School
Mentor: Emily Pratt

Congratulations to Our 2026 Awardees!

We celebrate the dedication, creativity, scientific curiosity, teamwork, and engagement demonstrated by our students. We also gratefully acknowledge the mentors, educators, schools, and institutions whose guidance and support made their achievements possible.

 🌟 Symposium Scientific Engagement Awards

Recognizing students for their curiosity, active participation, and willingness to ask questions throughout the 2026 High School Student Symposium. Students were encouraged to raise their hands, engage with speakers and presenters, and ask scientific questions during the keynote address, oral presentations, and career panel.

For some, asking questions came naturally; for others, it meant stepping outside their comfort zones and finding the confidence to speak up before a large audience—some for the very first time. These awards celebrate not only the questions students asked, but also the curiosity, confidence, and courage to engage in scientific dialogue.

🏆 Outstanding Scientific Engagement Award

Eshal Khan
Seven Lakes High School

Ridhi Venna
Elkins High School

Donald Naylor
Glenda Dawson High School

Abigail Chu

The Woodlands High School

⭐ Excellent Scientific Engagement Award

Brianna Hu
William P. Clements High School

Lipi Hegde
William P. Clements High School

Tiffany Yuan
William P. Clements High School

Rishita Bachu
Cypress Ranch High School

Siqi Li
Cypress Ranch High School

Grace Odeyomi
Seven Lakes High School

Kundana Pothula
Cypress Ranch High School

✨ Scientific Engagement Award

Peter Kim
Tompkins High School

Sreyathi Cheerla
Cypress Ranch High School

Vivian Monteiro
Awty International High School

Emma Tan
Jordan High School

Benjamin Hao
William P. Clements High School

🌟 ASPIRATION Engagement & TEAM Excellence Awards

Recognizing ASPIRATION individual students and teams for their outstanding engagement and active participation throughout the 8-week summer ASPIRATION Program. Students were encouraged to speak up, contribute to discussions, ask questions, share ideas, and engage with instructors and peers during each session.

These awards recognize those who demonstrated consistent initiative and participation across the program, celebrating both individual contributions and the collective engagement of teams throughout the eight-week experience.

🥇 First Place — Team 5

Anvita Duvvuri • Venkata Sai Ruthvik Bommisetty • Eshal Khan • Eleanor Brunsell
Mentor: Danchen He

🥈 Second Place — Team 3

Abigail Chu • Nikhil (Nik) Kini • Joshua Wang • Harshil Aradhya
Mentor: Cheng-En Shen

🥉 Third Place — Team 12

Sabrina Tam • Grace Odeyomi • Kathy Sapon Say • Benjamin Hao
Mentor: Dr. Song Gao

🌟 Individual ASPIRATION Engagement Award

Recognizing students for their outstanding engagement and participation throughout the 8-week summer ASPIRATION Program.

🥇 First Place

Abigail Chu
The Woodlands High School

🥈 Second Place

Venkata Sai Ruthvik Bommisetty
High school to be added

🥉 Third Place

Evania John
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions

From Participants to Leaders

One of the most rewarding outcomes of the ASPIRATION Program is seeing students grow with the program and return to support the next generation. These students participated in ASPIRATION for three consecutive years, from 2024–2026, and have taken on leadership roles as peer mentors.

Abigail Chu
The Woodlands High School
ASPIRATION Participant, 2024–2026 • Peer Mentor

Connor Chu
Bellaire High School
ASPIRATION Participant, 2024–2026 • Peer Mentor

Sophie Zhang
The Awty International School
ASPIRATION Co-organizer, 2024–2026 • Co-organizer & Peer Mentor 

Through their continued involvement, they have progressed from program participants to student leaders—sharing their experience, encouraging younger students, and helping build a supportive ASPIRATION community.