62nd Annual STS (2002-2003)
Finalists
Anant Ramesh Patel

FLORIDA
Anant Ramesh Patel, 18, of Titusville, studied the mechanisms through which neurons might partially regulate Central Nervous System (CNS) inflammation for his Intel Science Talent Search project in medicine and health. Microglia, resident immune cells in the CNS, play an important role in protecting the brain from infection and in repairing tissue. When their response becomes excessive, however, they are thought to play a role in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. Using neuron-microglial co-cultures, Anant demonstrated that neurons express a protein (CD22), formerly thought to be expressed only by B lymphocytes, which mediates inflammation. He believes his research could play a role in developing treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. First in his class of 350 at Astronaut High School, Anant is a passionate skateboarder and tennis player. His Alzheimer's research has been published in leading scientific journals, and in 2002, he presented research at the World Alzheimer's Conference in Stockholm. Anant, a patent holder, is fluent in Gujarati and Hindi. The son of Dr. Ramesh and Nilam Patel, he hopes to study biological sciences at Yale, and to earn a doctorate.