Science Research Students Shine at Regional and State Competitions

Under the guidance of Kristina Gremski, science research program director, six upper school students took home multiple awards at two of the region’s preeminent competitions: the Regeneron Westchester Science & Engineering Fair (WESEF) and the New York State Science & Engineering Fair (NYSSEF).

Senior Aaron Weinberg won first place in the Medicine & Health category and the Future of Medicine Award at WESEF for his project “Characterizing the RyR2-Mediated Cardiac Pathophysiology of COVID-19 in Rodent Models.” At NYSSEF, he took home a first-place win in the Biomedical & Health Sciences category, which led to his securing a coveted spot at ISEF, the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair, the world’s largest international STEM competition for high school students. ISEF takes place in Columbus, Ohio, in May. 

“Winning a trip to ISEF is honestly a dream come true,” Weinberg said. “It's an accomplishment that I have been working towards since joining the Science Research Program and beginning my project. ISEF is an amazing opportunity to not only present my research (a culmination of two years of work), but also meet other students in the field and network with some of the top scientists.”

Weinberg plans to continue his science research journey at Cornell University in the fall. “I will be studying biomedical engineering and hope to focus on immune engineering through undergraduate research and a concentration in molecular, cellular and systems engineering. I am excited to continue work in this field this summer as an intern at Weill Cornell, studying immuno-oncology.”

Fellow Masters’ WESEF award winners include Isabella Levine ’26, Alyssa Wang ’25, Nico Khoury-Levy ’26 and Frank Liu ’26. Max Lovitt ’25 and Nico Khoury-Levy ’26 received awards at NYSSEF.

“It was rewarding to see students win multiple awards, but I am also very proud of all the students who competed,” Gremski said. “They worked very hard and did a great job in presenting in front of expert judges and answering challenging questions on the spot."

WESEF 2025
Aaron Weinberg ’25
“Characterizing the RyR2-Mediated Cardiac Pathophysiology of COVID-19 in Rodent Models”

“Does Time Spent on Social Media Impact the Ability to Distinguish Between Facts and Opinions?”

“Visualizing and Placing Limits on Non-Orientable Compact Euclidean Topologies of the Universe”

“Overcoming Stroke Disabilities by Modulating Maladaptive Antiviral Defenses”

“Examining the Role of Frataxin in Alleviating Type 2 Diabetes-Related Symptoms”

“Characterizing the RyR2-Mediated Cardiac Pathophysiology of COVID-19 in Rodent Models”

“Suicide Risk Assessment on Social Media with Semi-Supervised Learning”

“Overcoming Stroke Disabilities by Modulating Maladaptive Antiviral Defenses”