Oceanside student named Regeneron semifinalist

Nathan Gershengorin honored for diabetes research

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After discovering that he was a Regeneron Science Talent Search semifinalist, Oceanside High School senior Nathan Gershengorin gave district Science Director Kathryn Chapman a high five. Then he texted his mom.

The Science Talent Search is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science research competitions. Formerly known as the Intel STS, it honors 300 semifinalists nationwide, and of them, 40 are chosen to be finalists.

This is the second time Gershengorin has been named a research semifinalist for his project, which involved developing drug ingredients to prevent protein mutations that can cause blood sugar problems such as diabetes. He spent two summers at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan researching the interactions between proteins and molecules that could eventually be developed into medication. Earlier in the school year he was named a Siemens Competition research semifinalist for the same project.

He will receive a $2,000 prize from Regeneron, and an additional $2,000 will go to OHS’s science research program.

“I love the feeling of discovery,” he said of his research.

The 17-year-old is a constant problem solver. As a vice president of the World Interest Club, a member of the Law Club and Ethics Bowl, and a co-founder of the school’s first Math Honor Society, Gershengorin likes to apply his mind for mathematics to real world problems.

It was this drive that inspired him to devise his award-winning project. “Doing research like this has both intellectual fulfillment and [pushes] societal advancement,” he noted.

His parents, Sofya and Naum, immigrated to the United States from then Soviet-controlled Moldova in the 1980s. His mother is a pediatrician, his father an IT specialist and his sister, Fiana, 30, is a psychiatrist.

Nathan hopes to attend the University of Chicago and major in physics. “I like the intellectual environment there,” he said.

Though he is not sure exactly how yet, he would like to apply his college studies to international finance and economics.

“Nathan is one of those students who doesn’t accept things as how they’re told to him,” said OHS Research Coordinator Heather Hall, Gershengorin’s adviser. “He questions things.

“A lot of people think research is about finding answers,” she continued. “But what you’re really doing is researching to find more questions … to do more research about.”

Hall has also helped dozens of other OHS students receive research awards in many competitions over the past five years. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Phyllis Harrington said she believes their success wouldn’t be possible without the help of dedicated mentors such as Hall and the school’s research program.

“The rigor of these particular competitions requires so much that I feel it would be impossible for any student, no matter how gifted and talented, to do it on their own,” Harrington said. “It’s unquestionable we wouldn’t have these students if we didn’t have Heather.”

She also attributes Oceanside students’ success in this area to the preparation they receive in elementary and middle school. “We built a strong foundation in all the academics,” she said, “but we continue to strive to focus on the kind of creative thinking skills that the students do need so [they] get to that level they need to to compete.”

The Regeneron finalists will be announced on Jan. 24.