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By Jennifer Garvin

Albuquerque, N.M.—The ADA Foundation once again sponsored the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair as a way of stimulating interest in oral health research and to recognize the work of young scientists.

	Brain trust: Drs. Valerie Murrah and John Kuehne congratulate the ADA Foundation's winners. From left: Dr. Murrah, William Decker Neiswanger, Heng Jiao, Fei Chen, Yale Stern Michaels and Dr. Kuehne.

Drs. Valerie Murrah, a member of the ADA's Council on Scientific Affairs, and John Kuehne, director, ADA research and laboratories, served as judges.

This year the ADAF increased sponsorship to three awards ($2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place.)

First prize went to high school sophomore Yale Stern Michaels of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for his project entitled, "Probing for Cancer with Smart shRNA." The student developed a novel RNA probe designed to detect expression of the SV40 large tumor antigen, a viral oncogene.

Second prize went to the team of Fei Chen and William Decker Neiswanger of Beaverton, Ore., for their project, "Increased Precision, Versatility and Control in Laser-based Surgeries through the Intersection of Superimposed Varied Frequency Lasers." The project created a novel laser beam with controllable periods of constructive and destructive interference.

Third prize went to junior Heng Jiao of Shanghai, China, for his project, "A Novel Cyclodipeptide with a Significant Anti-tumor Activity from a Marine Bacillus," which isolated a cyclodipeptide from marine bacillus that proved to induce apoptosis in tumor cells in vitro and in vivo.

The Intel ISEF is held each May and is the world's largest pre-college celebration of science, bringing together more than 1,200 high school students from 40 countries.

Organizations representing a wide variety of scientific disciplines affiliate with the Intel ISEF as Special Awards Organizations. Special Awards sponsorship is open to corporations; scientific, mathematical, and engineering societies; agencies of the federal government; and colleges and universities.