Meet Hewlett High School's Regeneron Scholar

As an eighth-grader in Woodmere Middle School Samuel Hsu was seeking out an intellectual challenge.

“I wanted to learn more about biology, more of a hands-on approach, really research, more than reading text,” Hsu said.

Enter Andrew Perlow, a science teacher at the middle school. He guided Hsu to the research path.

“Samuel was a very diligent student in science,” Perlow wrote in an email. “He succeeds in science research because he leaves no stone unturned when it comes to detail and explanations. I think Samuel’s accomplishment is a testament to the work he has done and the school district for providing him with the support to succeed.”

Hsu’s work culminated in the Hewlett High School senior being named as one of the 300 scholars, in essence a semifinalist, in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2024. What is considered the country’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school students at 102-years-old, received its most applicants in more than five decades, contest officials said.

Scholars were selected out of 2,162 applications from 712 high schools in 46 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and 10 other countries.

HSU and Hewlett High are awarded $2,000 each. On Jan. 24, 40 of the 300 will be chosen as finalists. The next step is a March trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for a portion of $1.8 million.

“It really kind of proved to me that I was doing real research,” Hsu said about his semifinal status. “I didn’t expect this. I expected discovering and contributing to future research and general knowledge, not being a top 300 scholar. Performing and discovering novel things like a scientists, I never experienced anything like this before.”

The research conducted in Hewlett High School’s own laboratory under the guidance of Terrence Bissoondial, Hewlett-Woodmere school district’s science research coordinator, involves the role of metalloproteinases in plants. If a plant has the correct of metalloproteinase it would be more resistant to bacteria, a virus or any other microorganisms that could cause disease.

“This can help reduce crop loss and improve resistant to pathogen,” Bissoondial wrote in an email. “Environmentally, this would mean less chemicals sprayed on crop that can harm other organisms or lead to resistance.”

Beginning the research in his junior year, Hsu conducted his research from January to October of last year. One of the limitations of performing in-house research he had to overcome is using a substitute chemical because of the genetic modification restrictions in high school labs. Another obstacle was doing the research in school in 40 minutes of class time that extended into free periods and his free time.

“I learned certain skills to improve my time management, it was way more relentless than I expected,” Hsu said. “I told myself to stick with it and it will be a big confidence booster for many years.”

A second-degree black belt in Karate, the martial art he has studied for the last decade also played a role.

“The hard work I’ve been doing the past 10 years pays off,” Hsu said about learning Karate and then teaching children younger than him.

“It helped me learn similar to science research, when I first started I learned to love research, tried it, stuck with it and I’m loving it,” he said, adding he spent hours in the lab and the time went flying by.

Applying what Bissoondial called an “inquisitive mind,” Hsu has fashioned a project that his mentor described as “equally competitive as those developed in outside research facilities with more resources.”

“He knows how to ask the important questions and is capable of finding the means to answer them,” Bissoondial said. “He is creative, imaginative and demonstrated that he has analytical mind with the discipline to achieve his objectives.”

Hewlett High Principal Alexandra Greenberg said Hsu’s accomplishment underscores the school’s commitment to academic achievement and the investment in helping to produce future scientists.

“We are so proud of his accomplishments and look forward to his current and future contributions to the field of science,” she wrote in an email.

Hsu noted the success is a culmination of the support he has received from classmates and teachers.

“It make feel really proud I can perform the research and represent my school,” he said.

College is on the horizon. The school is yet to be chosen, but Hsu is considering combining the study of computer science with biology.

And waiting for that Jan. 24 announcement.

“I’m very thankful, very glad I was able to reach the top (300),” he said. “I’ll stay hopeful and look to do even better.”