Hewlett High students place in the Top 10

Competing in a virtual science contest against more than 400 students from 31 different schools from across Long Island, Hewlett High School students Blake Lippman, who just graduated, and Tyler Bissoondial, now a junior, finished in the top 10 of their category.

The pair took part in the virtual 2021 Neurological Surgery, P.C. Health Sciences Competition. The contest was created to promote student interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and health science careers.

Projects had to be submitted by May 19 and results were announced on June 15. Lippman and Bissoondial placed ninth in the microbiology/genetics category with a project that investigated how ferns respond to specific components of pathogens called microbial associated molecular patterns.

“We focused on one category of these molecules, called Lipopolysaccharides,” Lippman said. “We observed that the MAMPs affect some key genetic pathways in the plant. Learning this information could help scientists increase plants’ tolerance to destructive pathogens in the future, thereby protecting the food supply from crop loss.”

The duo also did a project last year on the remediation of soil pollution and had placed ninth in the biochemistry category.

Bissoondial said he was a bit surprised by the high finish but is proud of their work. “We were looking for different competitions to enter in and get feedback on our projects, so we entered this local competition,” he said. “We were surprised that we won since we were in a brain and spine surgery competition using a plant project.”
Lippman will be continuing his education by studying biology at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. When looking back on this competition, he is most proud of how they overcame the obstacles of working during the pandemic.

“Working with limited lab access and various other restrictions makes it difficult to complete any experiment, let alone one that can go on to win notable competitions,” he said. “Tyler and I were able to conduct solid research and gain an in-depth understanding of a challenging topic. Our involvement in this project has taught us an abundance of information that will be useful during our future studies of biology.”