Four students from Eastern Regional High School earned top honors at the recent 78th Delaware Valley Science Fair.
Ananya Relia, Ansh Jaggi, Parv Chikani and Radika Dudda advanced to the fair after earning winning placements at the Coriell Science Fair, an annual contest that showcases the best of South Jersey’s student research. Each year, Coriell provides students in grades six through 12 from Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties with the opportunity to demonstrate their passion for science through advanced projects.
Subject areas for the projects include bio-chemistry, micro-biology, chemistry, medicine and health and environmental science.
Science fair research today goes far beyond traditional classroom demonstrations. Students participate in sophisticated, original investigations across 13 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) categories, including team projects and consumer science at the middle-school level. Each year, about 900 to 1,000 students from South Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware present their work at the science fairs.
Founded in 1949, Delaware Valley Science Fairs Inc. is a nonprofit dedicated to the philosophy that students learn science by doing science.
All four Eastern students conducted their research at Yard Sciences, a research organization based in Mount Laurel and under the mentorship of Dr. Yajamana Ramu, whose guidance and access to laboratory resources helped students carry out sophisticated experimental work uncommon at the high-school level.
Relia earned first place in bio-chemistry for her project, “Green Ozempic: Biopharming of GLP‑1 Receptor Agonists in Nicotiana benthamiana.” Her research explored producing diabetes‑related therapeutic peptides in plants as a more affordable and environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing.
Jaggi took first place in chemistry for “Biodegradation of Renewable Polyurethane Foams Synthesized from Bio‑based Polyols.” His research focused on developing sustainable polymer foams made from renewable materials and analyzing their biodegradability.
Chikani came in first in micro-biology for “Evaluating Nanoparticle‑Conjugated Antibiotics, Bacteriocins, and Peptides for Enhanced Antibacterial Efficacy.” His work examined how nano-particle delivery systems can improve treatments against antibiotic‑resistant bacteria.
Dudda earned first place in micro-biology for her project, “Nature’s Antibacterials: Isolation and Evaluation of Bacteriophages Against Pathogens.” She isolated bacteriophages from natural water sources and demonstrated their ability to kill antibiotic‑resistant bacteria, highlighting the growing potential of phage therapy.
