Young cancer survivors are now battling the disease in the lab

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NEW YORK — Miah Margiano is a senior at St. Anthony’s High School and has had big dreams for over a decade. However, she was still thrilled when she got the call.

“I basically screamed after it ended, although I kept my composure when I responded,” Margiano said.

Margiano is one of 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search – the country’s oldest and most prestigious science competition.

“She is recognized not only for her exceptional research, but also as a future scientific leader,” said Maya Ajmera, CEO of the Society for Science.

Because for Margiano, battling childhood cancer isn’t just an academic obsession — when she was just 7, she needed a life-saving bone marrow transplant for leukemia.

“When people get horrible diseases, you always try to have an explanation, don’t you? I think she has a mission in life,” said Margiano’s mother, Michelle Ricurte.

The mission turned into another battle with pediatric neuroblastoma – because while living at the Ronald McDonald house for two months, Margiano met a very special friend.

“We had sleepovers, watched movies, and sadly she died a year after I met her,” Margiano said, “so I discovered that genetic component and linked it to the process that might be linked to better neuroblastoma survival.” is.”

Her supervisors at St. Anthony’s are thrilled too, as she is the first at her school to have made it this far.

“I outed my first student to this competition in 1982, and she’s the cream of the crop,” said Paul Paino, St. Anthony’s director of science research.

She was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.

Margiano will travel to Washington DC in March where she will compete against the other Regeneron finalists. She’s already won $25,000 just for making it this far. The competition’s first prize is a quarter of a million dollars.