Life Sciences Award
Life Sciences Awards honor, reward and enable middle school and high school student teams strongly committed to protecting and advancing human health.
In its legacy efforts, the Foundation partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to recognize scientists, high school educators and high school students who were judged to exemplify excellence in life sciences. Many of these worked to protect human health through advances and initiatives biomedicine.
Moving forward, rededicated Life Sciences Awards team recognition will be explored with lead Federal agency, scientific and provider leadership and vital community interest organizations. Youth groups, practices and healthy lifestyle initiatives could well be central to much of the coordination and team support.
Targeting Life Science applications will encompass a variety of vital disciplines. With unique factors in reaching out to this wide audience, the application, evaluation and judging processes will be enhanced to better nurture and support student teams.
Here is a partial list of legacy program recipients:

Justin Roth Sophomore West Branch High School West Branch, IA In early elementary school, Justin was recognized as a student who excelled in math and science. He accelerated at such a rapid rate, he took High School algebra in sixth grade, AP Chemistry in ninth grade, and Calculus in tenth. During middle school, Justin joined […]

Vaishnavi Rao Junior Canyon Crest Academy San Diego, CA Since elementary school, Vaishnavi has demonstrated an innate curiosity for science and hands-on experimentation. Over the years, her passion and love for science, particularly biology, built up as she studied the behavioral aspects of fear, the biomedical applications of Kisspeptins, and the effects of cytokines in […]

Camilla C. Walck, Ph. D., NBCT International Baccalaureate Biology Teacher Princess Anne High School Virginia Beach, Virginia Camilla Walck is an educator that is dedicated to teaching and learning both in and out of the classroom. Her passion for biology is contagious – engaging and exciting her students about the scientific world. For the past […]

Daniel G. Colley, Ph.D. Professor of Microbiology and Director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases University of Georgia Athens, Georgia Dr. Colley is a renowned scientist most notably in the area of tropical medicine and parasitology, with a main focus on the immunology of schistosomiasis, a debilitating, chronic worm disease that affects […]

Coit Hendley Teacher Eleanor Roosevelt High School Greenbelt, Maryland Mr. Hendley has been teaching for 32 years, and is currently teaching five sections of AP Chemistry and one section of Research Practicum. He has developed the AP Chemistry program into one that involves three teachers, eight sections and 240 students. The program has been recognized […]

Leslie Brinson Biology Teacher North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Durham, North Carolina As an experienced teacher looking back on her career, Leslie sees the importance of activities outside the classroom–whether field trips, after-school research projects or science competitions. What these activities have in common is that the students are engaged, physically and mentally […]

Deborah Wasylik Teacher Dr. Phillips High School Orlando, Florida Creating curiosity in science class is important to Deborah Wasylik. She accomplishes this when she tells her students that before she became a teacher she had climbed inside a pyramid, jumped out of an airplane and sold drugs! She grew up with an adventurous family in […]

Melissa Knothe Tate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio Dr. Melissa Knothe Tate is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of orthopaedic mechanobiology as well as the development and clinical translation of novel technologies and materials. Dr. Knothe Tate joined the nascent field of orthopaedic mechanobiology two decades ago, as […]

Jason Gandelman Senior Staples High School Westport, Connecticut Jason’s high school research investigated toxic compounds called Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs), which are known to contribute to the long-term health problems associated with diabetes, a disease his family has a long history with. Jason’s study showed that yeast has evolved mechanisms to minimize the formation of […]

Anirudh Mohan Senior Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Alexandria, Virginia Anirudh’s primary passion lies in the field of biomedical engineering, with an interest in pursuing both technical and business perspectives. During his last two years of high school, he conducted nanobiotechnology research at George Mason University. His research involved the nanoengineering of […]