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Fair Valley Stream student an Intel semifinalist
South High senior gets real results with artificial kidney research
It’s exceedingly rare for a high school student to make a significant contribution to science, but that’s exactly what Valley Stream’s Mariyam Qureshi has done.
On Jan. 11, Qureshi, a South High School senior, was named a semifinalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search. The nationwide competition received 1,839 applicants this year, and 300 participants were named semifinalists.
The 17-year-old’s project is titled “Dynamic Underlying Tissue Integrity,” and focuses on the creation of an artificial kidney. The success of the experiment serves as the first step in the creation of an in vitro filtration barrier for an artificial kidney.
Qureshi said she was thrilled to receive the recognition for her work. “I was so happy, probably because I wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “So much work went into Intel. We worked on our research papers and we presented, and there was so much to be done, and when it finally paid off it was a nice feeling.”
After hearing the news, she went out for a celebratory dinner. Qureshi said her friends found out the next day, during the morning announcements.
The idea for the project came to her when she began looking into kidney failure and alternative treatments for it. Currently there are only two — dialysis and transplantation, both of which come with complications, according to Qureshi.
“With dialysis, your life has to be monitored daily and you can’t really live the life you want to,” she said. “And with getting a kidney donation, there are only so many donors out there and it’s very hard to find.”
Qureshi said her family has a history of kidney failure, so she wanted to find answers. “I wanted to do something that not only benefits the scientific community, but benefits regular individuals who needed something,” she said.
The staff at South High was thrilled to hear of Qureshi’s accomplishment. “We’re really proud of her and the entire research program,” said Principal Maureen Henry, who shared the news with the entire school during the morning announcements on Jan. 12. “The students and the teachers put a lot of time and effort into their research, finding the right mentors and working over the summer.”
