Three Indian American high schoolers made the list of 40 finalists in 2006 Intel Science Talent Search competition (Intel STS), America’s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition, often considered the “Junior Nobel Prize.”

Priyanka Agarwal, Dilip Bobby Biswal and Beeneet Kothari were selected on Wednesday from 300 semifinalists identified earlier this month by the Intel corporation in the competition designed to find the most promising aspiring scientists between the ages of 16 and 18 in the United States.

Agarwal, 17, of Fort Worth, Texas, researched cellular causes of glaucoma for her Intel Science Talent Search project in medicine. She isolated a permanent, transformed rat retinal ganglion cell (RGC) culture to study how the eyes retinal cells die.

The death of retinal ganglion cells by a process called “apoptosis” causes damage to the optic nerve and prevents connections with the brain required for sight, resulting in blindness.
Priyanka’s cell line is thought to be the first in vitro model available to researchers developing new treatments for glaucoma.

Priyanka, born in India to Neeraj and Rajnee Agarwal, has won several speaking and debating awards. She enjoys violin, flute, reading and Indian dance and plans to earn a doctorate from Stanford.

Dilip Bobby Biswal, 18 of San Ramon, California, has been selected as a finalist for his microbiology entry on cell life.

His research deals in part with chromosomes, the gene carriers of cells, and could have implications for gene therapies to reduce the deterioration of human cells and could help find cures for arthritis, Alzheimers, Parkinsons and heart diseases.