Over $200,000 in scholarships and cash awards were bestowed upon the 2025 national winners of the 63rd Annual National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS). Held from April 22-26 at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles in Chantilly, Virginia, this prestigious competition brings together the brightest high school researchers from across the United States, including Puerto Rico and DoDEA schools worldwide. The event is sponsored by the Department of Defense and administered by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA). This year, 239 students competed nationally, having first presented their original research at one of 49 regional symposia. The top five finalists from each region were invited to the national event, where the top two finalists competed in oral presentations for scholarships ranging from $4,000 to $12,000, and the remaining three competed in the poster presentation for cash awards. The competition featured eight categories: Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering and Technology, Environmental Science, Life and Behavioral Sciences, Math and Computer Science, Medicine and Health, and Physical Sciences. Here are some highlights: 1st Place Oral Presentations: - Biomedical Sciences: Siri Peddinti from Texas presented "Vocalyze: A Deep Learning Approach to Detecting Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Tracking Treatment Efficacy via Vocal Acoustic Inflections and Sentiment Analysis." - Chemistry: Pragathi Kasani-Akula from Georgia showcased "Multi-Color Magneto-Fluorescent Nanoarchitectures for the Targeted Identification of Exosomes of Triple Negative Breast Cancer." - Engineering and Technology: Sean Skinner from New York's Long Island introduced "Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Many-Objective Generative Design." - Environmental Science: Matthew Lo from Philadelphia and Delaware won with "BeeMind AI: Development of an Artificial Intelligence-Based System to Assess Honeybee Health, Behavior, and Nutrient Effects." - Life and Behavioral Sciences: Selena Qiao from North Central presented "Turf Trouble: Does The DEET In Bug Repellent Really Kill Grass? Year II." - Math and Computer Science: Eric Buehler from New England Northern, a homeschooler, discussed "AI on Edge: Novel Post-Training Quantization for Education Applications." - Medicine and Health: Sritej Padmanabhan from Pennsylvania unveiled "ParkinSense: A Telehealth Toolkit for Quantitative Analysis of Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease." - Physical Sciences: Aiden Kwon from California Southern presented "Revolutionizing Turbulence Studies: Novel Low-Cost Zero Mean-Flow Chamber Design and Physics-Informed Tensor Basis Neural Network." 2nd Place Oral Presentations: - Biomedical Sciences: Aaron Weinberg from Upstate New York, The Masters School, explored "Characterizing the RyR2-Mediated Cardiac Pathophysiology of COVID-19 in Rodent Models." - Chemistry: Aarush Tutiki from Southwest, Albuquerque Academy, presented "ICEFAB-Nano: An Integrated Computational-Experimental Framework to Accelerate the Development of Highly Biofunctional Nanotherapeutics for Healthy and Cancerous Applications." - Engineering and Technology: Cooper Taylor from Connecticut, Greenwich Country Day School, shared his work on "Next-Generation VTOL Drones: A Breakthrough in Tilt Mechanism and Modular Design for Optimization and Accessibility." - Environmental Science: Anna Tringale from North Carolina, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, investigated "The Influence of Coal Ash Heavy Metal Leachate on Thyroid Hormone Concentration, Hormone Receptor Gene Expression, and Spectral Sensitivity in Danio Rerio." - Life and Behavioral Sciences: Siddharth Sridharan from Arkansas, Little Rock Central High School, examined "The Neurobiology of Voluntary Exercise: A Novel Approach to Alleviate Chemobrain by Promoting Hippocampal Neurogenesis." - Math and Computer Science: Max Lee from Georgia, Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, discussed "Multi-Branch Temporal-Spectral LSTM-CNN in Deepfake Audio Detection." - Medicine and Health: Aakash Bhattacharyya from Arkansas, Central High School, explored "Early Detection of Critical Salmonella Cases for Pre-Emptive Treatment via Novel Biomarkers discovered through Protein Domain Analysis and Machine Learning." - Physical Sciences: Padmalakshmi Ramesh from Wyoming and Colorado, Laramie High School, presented "A Novel Method to Analyze Thermonuclear Explosions in Four Binary Star Systems Using NASA’s High Time Resolution TESS Data." 3rd Place Oral Presentations: - Biomedical Sciences: Maya Hammoud from Michigan, Detroit Country Day School, focused on "Decoding ASXL3: A Novel Biomarker and Treatment for Neurodevelopmental Disorders." - Chemistry: Avani Kaur from Virginia, Mills E. Godwin High School, tackled "Design and Synthesis of a Novel Drug Molecule for Targeted Metal Chelation Therapy to Combat Alzheimer’s Disease." - Engineering and Technology: Maya Trutschl from Louisiana, Caddo Magnet High School, proposed "Mitigation of Pressure Injuries: Inertial Wearable and Computer Vision Approaches." - Environmental Science: Lakshmi Agrawal from Washington, Interlake High School and Stanford Online High School, developed "A Novel Method of Water Purification: Optimizing Foam Fractionation for Effective Broad-Spectrum Removal of DBP and DBP Precursors in Chlorinated Drinking Water." - Life and Behavioral Sciences: Vinil Polepalli from Southern New Jersey, High Technology High School, explored "Effects of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) and Piperine Compounds on the Regeneration of D. Tigrina." - Math and Computer Science: Brandon Bonamarte from Tennessee, Oak Ridge High School, analyzed "Key Factors to Improve Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis with Machine Learning." - Medicine and Health: Diya Shah from Texas, Plano East Senior High School, studied "Utilizing the Bioactive Descriptors of Piperoyl Piperidine on Drosophila Melanogaster as a Neoteric Treatment for Breast Cancer." - Physical Sciences: Marcus King from Illinois, Governor French Academy, examined "Water World Exoplanet Atmospheric and Spectral Data Analysis via Thermodynamic Modeling and Unsupervised Machine Learning." 1st Place Poster Presentations: - Biomedical Sciences: Hamsini Ramanathan from Washington, Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences. - Chemistry: Wanda Wu from Kentucky, duPont Manual High. - Engineering and Technology: Anusha Agarwal from Greater Washington, D.C., Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. - Environmental Science: Travis Osaki from Hawaii and the Pacific, Pearl City High School. - Life and Behavioral Sciences: Hailey Kim, competing virtually, from Marriotts Ridge High School. - Math and Computer Science: Henry Zou from Heartland, Johnston Senior High School. - Medicine and Health: Roshan Amurthur from Northern California, The Harker School. - Physical Sciences: Aditya Sengupta from Washington, The Overlake School. Industry insiders and educational experts applaud the JSHS for fostering a new generation of scientific talent. "The students at JSHS redefine the possibilities in STEM," remarked Winnie Boyle, Senior Director of Competitions at NSTA. "Their groundbreaking research and unwavering curiosity inspire us all." Bob Lay, NSTA’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, echoed the sentiment: "JSHS is a testament to the creativity and determination of young researchers nationwide. We are honored to celebrate their achievements and look forward to the impact they will have on the future of science and technology." Founded to encourage high school students to engage in original STEM research, JSHS connects them with mentors and leading researchers, expanding the pool of skilled talent essential for the nation’s R&D efforts. The next round of abstract submissions opens in the fall, and further details can be found at www.jshs.org. The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), a vibrant community of over 35,000 science educators and professionals, supports the growth and development of science teachers through quality resources, continuous learning opportunities, and networking. For more information, visit www.nsta.org or follow them on social media platforms.