SOCAL BIO BioGENEius

Advancing Future Leaders In Biotechnology

BioGENEius connects Southern California High School Students with real-world opportunities in biotechnology, medical devices and life sciences through mentorship, hands-on experiences, industry exposure, and career development programs designed to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators.

Regional BioGENEius Award Challenge Winners

SoCalBio is proud to announce the winners and runners-up in its regional BioGENEius Award challenge. The students and their poster presentations that participated in the California State Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF) and were from high schools in the SoCalBio region were considered for this award

2025 Winners

First Place: Ms. Annika Chatterjee from University High School, Irvine, $700 and a certificate

Peroxynitrite Biochemical Signaling Regulates Micro RNA (miR21) Activation of NLRP3 Inflammasome and is Key to PCOS Severity

Second Place: Mr. Andrew Huang from The Webb Schools, Claremont, $500 and a certificate

Design of Protein Binders Targeting the Interleukin-6 Signaling Complex to Inhibit Amyloid-β-Induced Ferroptosis

Third Place: Mr. Nathan Kang, $200 and a certificate

Design and Characterization of Novel Imatinib-Loaded Nanoparticles for Localized Immunomodulation

2025 Runners Up

Mr. Jason Sun for project: Decoding Neural Signatures: Advanced Machine Learning for Early Detection and Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease

Mr. Adrian Pham, Mr. Ilia Ghatei from El Camino Real Charter High (Woodland Hills) for project: PharmaGenesis: A novel drug discovery platform to design novel, bioactive, drug-like compounds on track to be the first FDA-approved drugs for CTNNB1

Ms. Liwen Cheng for project: Structure-Based d-Peptide Alpha-Synuclein Inhibitors: Tackling Solubility, Specificity, and Bioavailability Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease Therapy

Each runners up got a certificate signifying their participation and selection. SoCalBio is pleased to congratulate this year’s winners and wish them great success in their future studies.

PARTNERS

Who It’s For

The SoCalBio BioGENEius Challenge offers exceptional high school students in Southern California a chance to compete and gain recognition for their exemplary biotechnology research.

Become a Supporter

Join us in supporting the next generation of innovators. There are several ways to help support our program and benefit our community.

Donate Today

By donating money to support the awards, plaques, and certificates. Industry sponsorship provides funds to support our STEM student winners and runners-up and their high schools. Strong support will allow us to assist even more students. 100% of your support goes to the students.

Volunteer to Participate

By volunteering to participate in the judging committee. If interested in being on the judging committee, contact Tom Lobl. Our judging committee selects the brightest students from a variety of STEM programs from CA State Fair applications that come from our SoCalBio territory.

Mentorship Relations

By creating mentorship relationships with awardees so that the students will learn from the mentorships in preparation for college and, ultimately, careers in technology.

Apply to be screened

BioGENEius connects Southern California students with real-world opportunities in biotechnology and life sciences through mentorship, hands-on experiences, industry exposure, and career development programs designed to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators.

Chair & Judges

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