Lucy Zha, a senior at the Wheatley School in Old Westbury, has been named one of 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
The Albertson resident was the only one of 16 semifinalists on the North Shore to ascend to the final round of the competition, with her status announced last week. But Zha herself found out two days before the news was made public, while hosting a meeting of her school’s book club over Zoom.
“I got the call while I was on with my friends in the club meeting, and I had to turn off my camera and mute myself, and when I answered it was Regeneron,” Zha said in a phone interview. “I was really surprised when they called me, just beyond happy. I told my family and my parents were very proud of me! [The call] was really a moment that I did not expect.”
Zha’s recognition came after she submitted a research paper entitled “Investigating the Therapeutic Potential of Curcumin and Capsaicin: A Comparative Study on Neuroblastoma and Hypothalamic Cells,” on which she spent years of work. The inspiration for her project came from somewhere personal, she says.
“One of my close relatives was diagnosed with thyroid cancer,” Zha said. “Because my family emigrated from China when I was 12 years old, my parents were not really fluent in English; I was the only one in my family that was fluent. So I was recruited to pick out the supplement in the Costco medicine aisle to help with my relative recovery from cancer. And when I was looking down the aisle, I spotted curcumin, which is a plant-based drug, and the label said that this is a chemical in spices like turmeric. And I was really surprised to find that something that appears in my diet would be here in the Costco medicine aisle.”
In her research, starting in the summer before her junior year and conducted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and SUNY Old Westbury, Zha explored the anti-cancer and neuroprotective properties found in curcumin, as well as the chemical compound capsaicin. But the arrival of the pandemic temporarily threw a wrench into her plans.
“Because of the pandemic, the lab [at SUNY Old Westbury] was closed in March,” Zha said. “But I was fortunate enough to go back to the lab and finish my experimentation during the summer.”
Zha then meticulously prepared her application for the contest in the fall.
“I spent a lot of time reviewing my application,” Zha said. “I enjoyed the process of writing those essays. And when I send it in, I think it’s a moment of relief.”
The final step for Zha and her fellow scholars in the Regeneron contest will be a week of presentations to judges beginning March 10, a public exhibition of their projects on March 14, and an awards gala on March 17, all conducted virtually. Each of the 40 finalists will receive a cash prize of at least $25,000, with the top 10 students taking home awards ranging from $40,000 to $250,000.
Whatever the outcome, Zha says the experience and making it this far will be a reward on its own.
“When I submitted, I thought that no matter what the outcome is, I’ll be happy because I wrote a research paper on what I’ve worked on for years,” Zha said. “And I think that is an accomplishment all its own.”
