NCSSM senior takes fourth place at prestigious Siemens Competition

Science and Math senior wins prestigious Siemens prize

Durham Herald-Sun
12.08.09


By Monica Chen
mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636

DURHAM - Lanair Lett, an 18-year-old senior at the N.C. School of Science and Math, became the fourth student there this decade to win a prize in the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology on Monday.

Lett won a $30,000 fourth place prize in the Individuals category for his biochemistry research that he conducted last summer at Duke University's Stedman Center for Metabolism and Nutrition.

"It was a great experience," Lett said. "We had a great time. And the main part of it was just getting to meet so many people."

In November, he had also won the regional competition and the accompanying $3,000 college scholarship.

Lett's research, which he said could have implications for diabetics, focused on the expression of one gene, HDAC-1, and how it affected insulin-producing cells.

The finals, held in New York from Thursday to Monday, were judged by a panel of nationally renowned scientists and mathematicians headed by lead judge Thomas Jones, former NASA astronaut. There were 20 national finalists competing in this year's national finals, including six individuals and six teams.

Neil Shah of Greensboro and Yekaterina "Katie" Shpanskaya of Raleigh shared a $50,000 prize in the team category for their project.

NCSSM students also won titles in the Siemens competition in 2001, 2004 and 2008.

Lett had conducted research with the guidance of Duke postdoctal fellow Jeffery Tessem and had been funded by N.C. Project SEED, a program placing talented, disadvantaged high school students in research laboratories for 8-10 weeks during the summer to experience hands-on research.

The program is located in The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences in Durham's Research Triangle Park.

Kenneth Cutler, director of N.C. Project SEED, said the organization was very proud of Lett's accomplishment.

"We paired the students with scientists. We teach them how to think like scientists, write and present like scientists," Cutler said.

Lett, who is from Henderson, was paired with a mentor and given funding to live on the Duke campus during his research. Funding came from the American Chemical Society and Biogen Idec, and primarily from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Cutler said Lett has accomplished more in the Siemens competition than any previous N.C. Project SEED participant.

Back in school at NCSSM this week, Lett has been trying to catch up on school work.

For college, Lett is applying to the University of Chicago, Columbia University and Stanford University and said he would like to study Biochemistry or Neuroscience.

He had wanted to go into medicine, but said the competition has also made him consider a career in research.

"This experience opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities to where I could be involved with medicine but I could be involved in research as well," Lett said.

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Science and Math senior wins prestigious Siemens prize