North Shore High School students Kaitlin Ho and Eli Weseley-Jones were named among the top 300 scholars in the 2025 Regeneron Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.
The 300 scholars, selected from almost 2,500 entries, will be awarded $2,000 each, and their schools will be awarded $2,000 for each enrolled scholar.
“The entire science department staff and I were immensely proud of Eli and Kaitlin. This highlighted the school’s increasingly strong science program. Moreover, it is an opportunity to celebrate the vast creativity and intellect of Eli and Kaitlin, whose projects will clearly help society in powerful ways,” said Superintendent Chris Zublionis said.
Ho’s project “Magnesium Magic: The Rescue of the Parkinson’s Model of Drosophila melanogaster with MgCl₂ Supplementation,” studied how long-term magnesium chloride dietary supplementation affects a fruit fly model of Parkinson’s disease. Wesely-Jones’ project, “The Misunderstood Math of Medical Tests: Improving Understanding of Conditional Probability in Screening Tests,” studied how phrasing of medical risk information influences patients’ understanding.
“Eli and Kaitlin have been standout researchers in my program since their freshman year. Being named Top 300 scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search is a testament to their dedication and passion for scientific discovery,” said science research teacher Molly Mordechai. “All my seniors have invested countless hours into their research, achieving remarkable success, and I couldn’t be prouder of the program as a whole. Congratulations to Eli, Kaitlin and the entire North Shore community!”
“Regeneron is the pre-eminent research competition in the world,” said North Shore High School principal Eric Contreras. “To have two North Shore High School semifinalists is very impressive. It speaks to Kaitlin and Eli’s commitment to science, inquiry and research. Their awards are a celebration of their indefatigable inquiry, the mentorship of Dr. Mordechai, and the collective work of all our science teachers in creating robust, dynamic and exciting learning experiences in Science.”
On Jan. 23, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists, who will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards during a week-long competition.
Information submitted by the North Shore Central School District
