12-03-2025
NC high school students win national science awards — including one who won $175,000
Two North Carolina teenagers captured top spots Tuesday night in a prestigious national science competition, including a $175,000 prize for finishing in second place.
Ava Grace Cummings, 18, a senior at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, came in second place in the 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search. She will get $175,000 for developing a potential new medical treatment to address a rare genetic disorder in the Native American community.
Thanush Patlolla, 17, a senior at Enloe High School in Raleigh, finished in 9th place and won $50,000. Patlolla helped make quantum computing more effective by making mathematical models of electron movements more accurate.
Both Triangle students were selected from a pool of nearly 2,500 applicants. The top 40 finalists were invited to Washington, D.C. to promote their original scientific research.
Previously known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, it's the nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.
Cummings is a member of the Lumbee and Coharie tribes. Her project focused on STAC3 disorder — also known as Native American myopathy — a rare genetic muscle disorder that primarily affects the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
Made up of 55,000 members in Robeson, Hoke, Scotland and Cumberland counties, the Lumbee are considered the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the country. President Donald Trump recently signed an order that moves the tribe a step closer to receiving federal recognition, The News & Observer previously reported.
Cummings found that the common nettle herb, alone or combined with the experimental drug Tirasemtiv, improved movement in both adult flies and larvae. Common nettle is an herb traditionally used by the Lumbee, according to Cummings.
'This is also the first study that proposes any kind of treatment for STAC3 and its symptoms,' Cummings said in a video explaining her project. 'And what's interesting about the treatments that are being presented is that they bridge both Western medicine and the traditional indigenous practices of the tribe which it affects, offering a solution for affected individuals that serve them both physically and culturally.'
Cummings is from Smithfield in Johnston County. But she attends the School of Science and Math, a public residential boarding school serving some of the state's most academically gifted high school juniors and seniors.
Cummings is president and founder of her school's Natives Rising chapter and is passionate about her Native American roots, according to her biography. She also plays piano, is a member of her school soccer team and is a resident life advisor.
Thanush Patlolla is credited with solving a major problem plaguing quantum computing. He created a more accurate model of how electrons act near the nucleus of an atom.
Quantum computing methods depend on predicting exactly how quantum particles respond to one another, according to the Society for Science. Patlolla's model increased the accuracy of energy distribution predictions by 0.6%, which contest organizers said is an essential step toward effective quantum computing
Patlolla lives in Cary and attends Enloe High, a magnet school in east Raleigh that draws students from across Wake County. He is captain of the school's varsity Science Olympiad team and founder and president of Enloe's physics club.
'I enjoy teaching people the same concepts that I enjoy in my research but aren't taught in school physics classes,' Patlolla said in a video explaining his project.
Patlolla is also an avid jazz guitarist who enjoys taking his electronic music equipment apart, according to his biography. He also swaps out parts for antique radio electronics to test their effects.
