Aryan Bora | William P. Clements High School

Aryan Bora | William P. Clements High School | Sugar Land, TX

Aryan is a junior at William P. Clements High School. He is fascinated

by STEM, especially math, biology, and computer science. He is a

USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO) winner, United States

of America Computing Olympiad (USACO) Platinum Division

competitor, U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) Honors

awardee, United States Physics Olympiad (USAPhO) Bronze Medal

recipient, and is currently conducting research in math at MIT

PRIMES-USA. Aryan enjoys competing with his school team in the

Science Bowl and Science Olympiad as well. Aryan is passionate

about music – he is a two-time All-State Violinist and takes immense

pride in performing as a piano soloist for senior homes. In his free

time, he loves watching movies, playing tennis with friends, hiking

national park trails, and wolfing down anything unhealthy.

Jerry Cao-Xue | William G. Enloe High School | Raleigh, NC

Jerry Cao-Xue is a freshman attending William G. Enloe High School.

Biology is his ultimate passion. Concepts in biology have fascinated

and motivated him to learn all that he can about this captivating field.

He is particularly interested in the intricacies of the human body, and

enjoys reading Vander’s. He aims to one day use his knowledge to

make a difference in other people’s lives. He has participated in

numerous life science competitions, including earning a Gold Medal

at the 2023 Arnold O. Beckman High School Biology Battle. He is also

an American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) qualifier. In

his free time, he plays and studies chess, having won the Scholastic

State Chess Championship 3 times. You can also spot him playing

tennis for his school’s varsity team, or playing the clarinet in the front

row of the NC All-State Honors Band.

Ian Chang | Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School | Bloomfield Hills,

Ian Chang is a senior at Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School. In his

free time, he enjoys listening to music, including the South Korean

vocalists TWICE and the vocalist Keshi. An avid weaver, he can often

be found in his school’s weaving studio between classes. He also

loves to take walks around campus and take silly selfies with his

friends. In particular, he likes to dance the night away and look at the

sky, be it the moonlight or sunrise. Ian may be no scientist, but likes

studying biology, especially biochemistry. He likes to spend his time

learning on Wikipedia and reading the Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Sophia Chen | Sage Hill School | Newport Coast, CA

Sophia’s interest in biology grew from a curiosity about the natural

world to uncover the mysteries of human disease. As a two-time

USABO finalist, U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) High

Honors awardee, and United States Physics Olympiad (USAPhO)

semifinalist, Sophia also delves into math–she is a Math Prize for

Girls (MPfG) award winner, two-time USA Junior Mathematical

Olympiad (USAJMO) qualifier, and six-time American Invitational

Mathematics Examination (AIME) qualifier. She is also a Caroline D.

Bradley Scholar, a Carson Scholar, and a Garcia Research Scholar.

Hoping to give back to her community, Sophia organizes math

tournaments and STEM activities as the founder of AGMOT, co-

president of Orange County Math Circle, and co-president of STEAM

for All. In her free time, Sophia enjoys golfing, drawing, and exploring

new music.

Yufei Chen | University High School | Irvine CA

Yufei Chen is a sophomore attending University High School in

Irvine, California. His interest in biology stems from his studies in

biochemistry and computational biology. He pursues all fields of

STEM, being first alternate for the International Chemistry Olympiad

(IChO) USA team, qualifying for USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad

(USAJMO), and obtaining a gold medal in International Earth

Science (IESO), a silver medal in United States Physics

Olympiad (USAPhO), and a bronze medal in the National

Astronomy Competition (NAC). In addition to participating in a

multitude of Olympiads, he was a team member of the second-place

high school team of 2023 National Science Bowl (NSB), and is on

his school's Science Olympiad team. In his free time, he plays

Starcraft 2 and other games with his friends and enjoys visiting

National Parks.

Allen Fei | PrepEdu Consulting LLC | Lexington, MA

Allen Fei is a freshman attending Lexington High School. His

admiration for various parts of biology stems from his fondness for

the variety of animals found in nature and his fascination with the

interactions among the different systems that allow for a complex

life. AstronomyAllen has explored his interests by participating in

his school's Science Bowl team. He can be found pursuing

different topics related to biology or unrelated to biology as well as

conversing with others about nuances surrounding philosophical

ideas. His general lack of experience makes him excited to

participate in new activities relating to STEM.

Damon Gurvich | PrepEdu Consulting LLC | Lexington, MA

Damon Gurvich is a Sophomore attending Lexington High School.

His interest in all science in general, and biology, arises from a desire

to learn how complex systems may be composed of simple

components. Damon has twice, with his amazing team members,

been a National Science Bowl (NSB) champion and enjoys visiting

other host schools. When he is not spending his time “studying” for

USABO or Science Bowl, he enjoys dabbling in microphotography,

collecting old books and cool rocks, and engaging in the rat race of

academic competition.

Carolina Kusumanegara | Seven Lakes High School | Katy, TX

Carolina Kusumanegara is a sophomore attending Seven Lakes High

School and a 2022 USABO National Finalist. Her primary interests in

biology are biochemistry and genetics. Likewise, her favorite

textbooks are Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry and Brooker

Genetics. She is an active member of her school’s Science Olympiad

team and has medaled several times at nationals. In addition, she

has written Science Olympiad tests for many competitions, including

the highly regarded tournament BirdSO. Carolina, alongside another

2023 USABO National Finalist (Vishal Surya), co-founded and

directed the Houston American Regional Biology Competition

(ARBC). She is a part of her school’s biology bowl team, informally

known as “Tux” after the Linux penguin. In her free time, she likes to

listen to music, read webcomics, and hang out with her friends.

Fiona Li | Henry M. Gunn Senior High School | Palo Alto, CA

Fiona is a junior from California whose passion for biology stems

from being curious about nature. Her favorite fields are plants,

genetics, and marine biology, and she is interested in topics from

human-microbe interactions to ecosystem resilience. At school, Fiona

leads and competes on the Science Bowl and Science Olympiad

teams. She also enjoys publishing issues of her school’s creative

magazine and organizing service events. In her free time, she can be

found ice skating at her local rink, experimenting in the kitchen (see

the results on her food blog at scallionsandsesame.com), or

exploring the outdoors.

Daniel Liu | Mission San Jose High School | Fremont, CA

Daniel is a junior attending Mission San Jose High School in Fremont,

California. His passion for biology started with reading Discover

magazines in elementary school; over time, the books he reads have

become thicker, but his interest in life sciences has not changed. He

has devoted his spare time to extracurricular activities related to

science and biology. Last summer, he researched the applications of

cryo-electron microscopy in biochemistry. Currently, he serves as the

tournament director of Biology Bowl, creating question content and

hosting annual competitions. Daniel is also engaged in his school’s

STEM clubs, being a co-founder of the school’s USABO club. In

addition, he tutors middle school and elementary school students in

the Science Bowl and Science Olympiad. Daniel further contributes to

various volunteer activities to support marginalized people in his local

community. In his free time, he enjoys table tennis, piano, instrumental

music, and hiking.

Sakura Nakanishi | Palos Verdes Peninsula High School | Rolling

Hills Estates, CA

Sakura Nakanishi is a sophomore attending Palos Verdes Peninsula

High School. She is passionate about biology, particularly animal

anatomy, and physiology. Sakura received the USABO Top 50

Distinction Award in 2022, the Presidential Volunteer Service Gold

Award in 2023, and is a 2023 British Biology Olympiad Gold Medalist.

She is also the founder of her school's Animal Rescue Club, associate

concertmaster in her school's orchestra, and an avid member of the

Math Team. In her free time, she can be found playing the violin and

piano, hanging out with her family friend's goats, and helping her

friends with biology, chemistry, and math concepts.

Surya Reddy | Jordan High School | Fulshear, TX

Surya Reddy is a sophomore at Jordan High School. He is an Event

Leader of the Jordan Science Olympiad Team and has medaled

multiple times at the national level. His favorite event at the Science

Olympiad is Cell Biology which he will miss participating in next year.

Surya is also a United States of America Computing Olympiad

(USACO) Silver participant and won the 2021 Houston Regional Brain

Bee at Rice University, going on to place 7th at the U.S National Brain

Bee. He is the co-founder and co-president of the Jordan High School

Biology Club which produced a record 5 USABO semifinalists this

year. In his free time, Surya enjoys watching basketball and playing

tennis.

Aditya Sivakumar | Mira Loma, High School | Sacramento, CA

Aditya Sivakumar beat the case (the academic comeback was

crazy) and will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall. As a recent

graduate from Mira Loma, Aditya’s favorite part of biology is playing

trivia in Mr. Porter’s classroom, getting fish for his environmental

studies class, or studying plant diversity by laying in the grass.

Aditya is also a chemistry enthusiast who would have made U.S.

National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) honors but he wanted

money for his chipotle and kikis. In his free time, Aditya can be

found benching his 7 copies of Campbell, playing retrobowl,

destroying Dulles 78-12 or listening to J Cole (his favorite song is

#3 on 2014). Aditya will not be dissecting a worm in his room at

camp.

Bill Sun | Seven Lakes High School | Katy, TX

Bill Sun is a sophomore attending Seven Lakes High School in

Katy, Texas. His interests lie in a multidisciplinary approach to

biology; his most recent research project has been on utilizing

computer algorithms to improve retinal wave measurement. Aside

from biology, Bill is also passionate about music; he is a 2-time All-

State Symphony cellist and has won competitions in solo piano. He

is also an American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME)

qualifier and is part of his school’s SciOly team. In his free time, he

enjoys biking with members of his Tux biology bowl team and

playing Minecraft.

Vishal Surya | Seven Lakes High School | Katy, TX

Vishal Surya is a sophomore attending Seven Lakes High School.

He discovered his passion for biology after learning about the

nervous system in elementary school. He has continued pursuing

Anatomy and Physiology by competing with his school's Science

Olympiad team, where he has medaled multiple times at the state

and national levels. Additionally, he has previously conducted

computational biology research about Multiple Sclerosis and its

connections with the Muramyl Dipeptide response pathway in T

cells. He competes on his school’s Lincoln Douglas debate team.

Besides competing in tournaments, he enjoys tutoring students in

biology and helps run the Houston American Regional Biology

Competition. In his free time, you can catch him biking, listening to

rap, missing 3-pointers, and reading Systema Porifera.

Kaiden Wu | Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and

Technology | Alexandria, VA

Kaiden loves the world of nature and the secrets that it holds. He is

a 3-time winner of the annual Thanksgiving pie competition

between him and his cousin, winner of "biggest eater" award on his

crew team, and his eggs have been rated "decent" by his little

brother. He also scored 15 on USABO Open during his freshman

year. When he is not competing, you can find him on the

Occoquan Reservoir rowing with his crew team, or biking with his

friends. He is also trying to pick up fishing, piano, and reading

again this summer. Next fall he will be attending the University of

Chicago, where he may be majoring in biology, physics,

philosophy, economics, molecular engineering, statistics, or

classics. He has not decided.

Sophie Wang | Fossil Ridge High School | Fort Collins, CO

Sophie Wang is a two-time USABO Finalist and an incoming

freshman at MIT. Post-pandemic, she organized academic

programs in her school, which have raised over $20K to support

her community. Her interest in biology propelled her to develop cell

lines expressing single-molecule protein misfolding reporters at the

Stasevich Lab. Additionally, she has captained her Science Bowl

team to the Top 16 at nationals. While undergoing her own biology

journey, she aims to create more opportunities for

underrepresented students. In her free time, Sophie enjoys playing

the guitar, watching true crime documentaries, and journaling on

hills.

Yolanda Xie | duPont Manual High School | Louisville, KY

Yolanda Xie is a junior at duPont Manual High School in Louisville,

Kentucky. She first became interested in biology as a dedicated

competitor and officer of her school’s Science Olympiad team.

Aside from memorizing epidemiologists, she is fascinated by

pathophysiology and evolution and enjoys competing in various

Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) events. Yolanda

has a wide array of other interests including playing piano for

senior citizens, writing free-form poetry, practicing archery (also

known as accidentally shooting holes in walls), and developing a

different video game obsession each month.

Jonah Xu | duPont Manual High School | Louisville, KY

Jonah Xu is a senior at duPont Manual High School. From viewing

histology slides under the microscope to running a DNA extraction

lab for his school’s Biology Club, Jonah has always enjoyed hands-

on biology. He applies his biology knowledge crafting crafts tough

questions for the Science Olympiad invitationals and is a 2-time

national champion in Anatomy and Physiology. With a strong

interest in learning anatomy, he wishes to pursue a career in

medicine. However, Jonah also enjoys learning about areas

outside biology: he is a 5-time American Invitational Mathematics

Examination (AIME) qualifier and 3-time U.S. National Chemistry

Olympiad (USNCO) National Qualifier. When he is not telling

stories using his stuffed clownfish, you can find him tinkering with

Legos and running around in Minecraft. Jonah will attend MIT in the

fall.

Richard Zhu | North Hollywood High School | North Hollywood, CA

Richard Zhu is a senior at North Hollywood High School, and a

returning Finalist. His deep interest in biology stems from a love for

living things and an eagerness to explore nature’s innovation. From

the cellular biochemistry that stabilizes our daily activities to the

community interactions that characterize the environment around

us, he finds the concept of biological systems to be a particularly

promising approach. As the co-captain of his school’s science bowl

team, Richard has found shared interests with his peers to include

being an American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME)

qualifier and also a U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO)

qualifier. Richard also enjoys hitting drop shots with his tennis

racquet and plummeting his bughouse rating on chess.com by

accidentally playing the bongcloud. Richard will be attending MIT in

the fall.