Mary Kay has awarded three grants to five high school scientists at the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles, CA.
 
Recipients were selected from nearly 2,000 participants representing almost 70 countries. The grants were awarded to students with innovative projects focused on finding cures for cancers affecting women, sustainable packaging innovation, and protecting our planet’s valuable resources.
 
Kristin Dasaro, Director, Package Engineering and Sustainability at Mary Kay said, 
 
“These future STEM leaders demonstrated innovative research, creative solutions, and novel approaches to complex problems that will directly impact cures for cancer, sustainable business practices, and redefine industry norms. We have so much to learn from this next generation and Mary Kay is honored to support them in their STEM journeys.”
 
ISEF, a program of the Society for Science for over 70 years, and is the world’s largest global science competition for high school students. Through a global network of local, regional, and national science fairs, millions of students are encouraged to explore scientific discovery. Each spring, a group of these students are selected as finalists and offered the opportunity to compete for approximately $9 million in awards and scholarships. 

Meet the Recipients

First Prize: Keshvee Sekhda and Nyambura Sallinen (Georgia, USA)
IdentiCan: an app that detects brain, breast, lung, skin, and pancreatic cancer. It uses AI technology to identify cancerous tumors with 99.6% accuracy.
 
Second Prize: Madalena Filipe and Frederico Mauritty (Lisbon, Portugal)
HidroQapa: a waterproof bioplastic made from chitosan extracted from shrimp shell waste. This acts as sustainable, biodegradable materials from crustacean shells, helping to reduce waste and environmental pollution.
 
Third Prize: Carolina de Araujo Pereira da Silva (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Rock the Metals! Investigating Manganese as a Trigger of Malignancy and Metal Transporters as Targets in Cancer Treatment. Research on how metals and their transporters affect cancer cell behavior for novel therapeutic cancer treatments. 

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