Senior Siemens finalist researches dental stem cells

This November, senior William Hu and his team of two others from New York and Wisconsin won Top Honors in the Regional Siemens Competition, moving him on to the National Finals in Washington, D.C.

This puts Hu among the top 1 percent of more than 2,000 students who applied to the competition.

Hu described the results as “shocking” and “completely unexpected.”

Hu spent six-and-a-half weeks researching dental pulp stem cells and their growth and differentiation on a variety of surface topographies. His research began after the realization that many people close to him had a variety of problems with their teeth. While attending Garcia, a summer materials science program in New York, he began formal research on a problem important to him in early July.

As for any type of scientific research, especially that involving cells that require careful manipulation and observation, he said progress was difficult.

“A good day was when we made even a little bit of progress,” he explained. “We would just have to wait most of the time.”

With a team of two other high school students from New York and Wisconsin, Hu carried out a process placing STEM cells on a variety of rough surfaces. The purpose was to see the effect of these surfaces on stem cell differentiation and proliferation. Their conclusion: The cells developed best on porous surfaces, like those that mimicked dentin.

Their daily work consisted mainly of waiting, after synthesizing various surface mediums, for the cells to differentiate and divide.

Eventually, the team members were able to submit their research paper on Sept. 18, two days before it was due.

“That got quite frantic,” Hu said.

In October, Hu was notified that he was officially a Siemens Competition Regional Finalist — but that wasn’t all. After Hu and his team gave a presentation on Nov. 12 in the school’s office conference room as part of the regional level of the competition, they received results three days later that they would be moving on to the national level of the competition.

From this experience, Hu has mixed feelings about the process involved in research.

“Research is really painful,” he said. “It can be quite a difficult process as you have to account for different things that you don't expect.”

However, he said, research is also a rewarding experience because of “that feeling of discovering something new.”

For Hu, the Siemens competition is just one part of the journey. Hu said that he’s interested in further exploring cell responses in college, possibly continuing his research.

“I’ve done a bit with cell biology and regenerative medicine, but there’s a lot I haven’t even touched on,” Hu said. ”My dream is to attend a research institution so that I can continue to explore the questions of science in the future.”