Two North Shore High School Seniors, David Davani and Lily Fagin, have been named semi-finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search.  Both students worked with Mr. Seth Klein as part of the Advanced Science Research program.  Mr. Klein provided guidance and support throughout the research process as part of the well-developed science research program at the high school. 
Lily worked with mentor Professor Malia F. Mason, PhD. from the Columbia Graduate School of Business.  The title of Lily’s paper is Willful Ignorance: The Tendency to Make Incentive-Compatible Decisions in Ambiguous Environments.  Lily’s abstract summarizes her project, “Adopting a situation-person interactionist framework to examine unethical behavior, the present investigation tests and demonstrates that ambiguity arising from task difficulty encourages biased responding. Participants were asked to perform a task—determine which side of a computer screen contained more dots—where the financial incentive was performance independent. Participants made large financial gains whenever they reported detecting more dots on the right-hand side (versus left), regardless of the veracity of their answer. Results revealed an incentive-compatible error bias. Errors that resulted in a financial gain were more common than errors associated with a missed opportunity for a legitimate financial gain. Moreover, results confirmed my prediction that this incentive-compatible bias would increase with task ambiguity. When the correct answer is highly ambiguous, truncated deliberation periods preceding incentive-compatible mistakes indicated that participants answered prematurely, opting to forego collecting additional information. I suggest this reflects willed ignorance in ambiguous task
settings.”

After learning of the honor, Lily said, “"It's amazing to have all of the work I've done over the past few years recognized. I want to thank, in addition to my mentor Dr. Malia Mason, the entire science department at the High School, and especially Mr. Klein, for all of their help."

David worked with Dr. Louis Ragolia and Mr. Tom Palaia at the Vascular Biology Institute at Winthrop University Hospital. The title of David’s paper is 1α,25 Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Modifies TNFα Induced Proliferation and Migration in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells from Wystar Kyoto and Diabetic Goto-Kakazaki Rats.  David’s abstract describes his work, “Atherosclerosis is a major morbidity factor in diabetics and a health concern in the United States. When a calcified material in the bloodstream adheres to inflamed areas of the arterial wall a blockage of an artery and a subsequent heart attack can occur. Proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are key early indicators of an atherosclerotic progression. Authors speculated a use for 1α,25(OH)2D3, the active hormonal form of vitamin D in preventing atherosclerosis, however, there is no evidence to support their hypothesis. This study sought to find if 1α,25(OH)2D3 reduces proliferation and migration caused by inflammatory agent tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) in normal and diabetic VSMCs. To test this, VSMCs were supplemented with TNFα, 1α,25(OH)2D3, and a combination of the two test agents. A colorometric assay was used to measure cellular proliferation and a standard migration assay was used to measure cell migration. After diabetic cells were treated with vitamin D, there was a significant reduction in the already rapid migration and proliferation. Vitamin D also reduced the spike in proliferation and migration caused by TNFα. This shows vitamin D can play a role in reducing atherosclerosis in diabetics and others susceptible to atherosclerosis.”

David said, “Science research is a long-held interest of mine that I am so grateful to have the opportunity to pursue at this level in high school and at the Vascular Biology Institute at Winthrop University Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Louis Ragolia and Mr. Tom Palaia. I have learned that with perseverance and optimism researchers have the potential to solve serious health problems. My research on vitamin D as a cure or prevention for atherosclerosis has demonstrated to me that this goal is conceivable."

Seth Klein, the science research teacher said, "It is an honor to work with such talented and dedicated students like Lily and David. I am so proud that they have accomplished such high level research projects.  I would also like to acknowledge the support and insight of Dr. Carol Smyth our science director. Without the help of Dr. Smyth and the central administration our program would not be successful."
The Intel STS recognizes 300 students and their schools as semifinalists each year to compete for $1.25 million in awards. Each semifinalist receives a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation with an additional $1,000 going to his or her respective school, From the semi-finalist pool, 40 finalists are then invited to Washington, DC in March to undergo final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for the top award of $100,000. 
Dr. Carol Ann Smyth, Director of Science K-12 said, “We are exceptionally proud of the accomplishments of David and Lily.  They are insightful, talented, hard-working young people who completed exemplary projects that contribute to their respective fields.  I believe that both David and Lily will continue to excel and make significant contributions to the scientific community.  In addition, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Mr. Klein.  Our research program and its successes are directly linked to his talent, intelligence, diligence, and dedication.”
Photos by Shelly Newman