SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A teacher at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in San Diego was named California State Science Fair Teacher of the Year - Junior Division at a statewide science fair in Los Angeles, it was announced Sunday.
Elaine Gillum received a $2,000 cash prize at the 2017 California State Science Fair, held at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, Los Angeles.
Elisha D. Johnston, an eighth grader at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, won Project of the Year-Junior Division and received a $2,500 cash prize. Her project was titled "The Molecular Mechanisms of Regenerating Cartilage to Reduce Chronic Pain: Phenol-Glucose-Glycerin Upregulates FGF-2."
Shalin V. Shah, a senior at Tesoro High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, was named California State Science Fair Student of the Year and was presented with a $1,000 cash prize. The project entry was titled "Lumos: Automated Smartphone-based Ophthalmic Screening for Glaucoma Using Computer Vision and Deep Learning Algorithms."
A tenth grader in the Bay Area, Vivek V. Kamarshi, was selected for Project of the Year-Senior Division and received a $5,000 cash prize. The project was titled "Effects of Gut Microbiota on Drosophila Models of Parkinson's Disease."
Kamarshi is in 10th grade at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino.
This year's fair drew 927 students from 400 schools statewide, with finalists selected from a volunteer pool of scientists and engineers from private industry and higher education. Students took home a combined total of over $60,000 in cash prizes.
The presenting sponsor for this year's event was Northrop Grumman Corporation with additional support from Chevron Corporation, Gilead Sciences, Inc., THE MUSES of the California Science Center Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, and Southern California Gas Company.
Dr. Aidyl Serricchio-Gonzalez, a teacher at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, was named California State Science Fair Teacher of the Year - Senior Division.
