High school students excel at creating public health solutions

For immediate release: June 24, 2026 (25-26-050)

Contact: DOH Communications

OLYMPIA – The fifth Washington Tracking Network (WTN) Youth Science Contest challenged and inspired talented high schoolers from across the state to create public health solutions. Once again, Washington students demonstrated their knowledge and creativity.

The contest has three categories: Health Science, Program and Policy Design, and Science Communications. The detailed and solution-oriented projects submitted included research essays, social media campaigns, and much more.

“Everything we in public health do to encourage every community in the state to be healthy and vibrant is based on the best available science,” said Griselda Arias, Environmental Epidemiology Section Manager. “For the fifth year, students submitted potential solutions for real-world problems. It’s such a treat to see the creativity and knowledge from across the state as we help students see how science and equity connect to the things they care about.”

The winning projects, the students who submitted them, and their high schools are:

Health Science

Individual Division

• 1st Place – “Smoke, Silence, and Inequality: Understanding the forces behind lung cancer in Washington state — and who will bear the burden tomorrow” Harsaaj Bhatia, The Overlake School
• 2nd Place – “Access to Healthcare Disparities in Incidence and Mortality of Brain and Nervous System Cancers: Are certain geographic regions more affected in Washington state?” Ridhaan Palkar, Sammamish High School
• 3rd Place – “Clearing the Air: Investigating the impact of particulate matter (PM2.5) on birth weight disparities across Washington counties” Ananya Karthik Rabindranath, Tesla STEM High School

Group Division

• 1st Place – “The Impact of English Deficiency on Healthcare Access” Aditya Nandwani and Alexander Yu, Interlake Senior High School
• 2nd Place – “The Relationship Between Redlined Areas and Lung Cancer Risk” Morgan Sheppard and Cadence Sheppard, Shorecrest High School
• 3rd Place – “Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality Across Washington State” Aanya Surukanti and Sahasra Voruganti, Redmond High School

Program and Policy Design

Individual Division

• 1st Place – “The Compound Threat: How thermal stress, agricultural chemicals, and socioeconomic barriers correlate to cardiovascular mortality in Yakima County” Inesh Mamidipaka, Redmond High School
• 2nd Place – “Fish Out of Water: Identifying environmental health disparities in WA lakes: Comparison of anthropogenic pollutants in Lake Washington vs Lake Chelan” Akchara Mukunthu Deepak Babu, Tesla STEM High School
• 3rd Place – “Assessing the Driving Factors and Socioeconomic Disparities of Carbapenemase Producing Organism (CPO) Infections” Janani Srikumar, Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart

Group Division

• 1st Place – “The Impact of the Housing Crisis on Veterans in Washington State and Possible Solutions” Videh Jain, Ishani Sen, and Reeti Banerjee, Skyline High School
• 2nd Place – “The Clean Air Access Initiative” Julie Hu and Yijia Wen, Interlake High School
• 3rd Place – “Lead Us Not into Contamination: The lead rapid response policy and equity support program” Zoha Khan and Kaya Okahata, Interlake High School

Science Communications

Individual Division

• 1st Place – “Bridging the Gap: Mental health where it’s needed most” Xiaoyan Yan, Tesla STEM High School
• 2nd Place – “The 21st Week: Wildfire smoke and fetal health” Muireann Kumar, Newport High School
• 3rd Place – “You Are What You Eat - That May Be Dead. Campylobacteriosis: The secret killer” Sri Sahasra Kandula, Redmond High School

Group Division

• 1st Place – “Yakima County Awareness Campaign: Access to clean water” Chloe Byun and Sophia Liao, King's Schools
• 2nd Place – “Forever Chemicals (PFAS) in Menstrual Products” Harshitha Anbukumar and Nila Natarajan, Skyline High School
• 3rd Place – “Birth Outcomes: How does adolescent pregnancy affect low birth weight rates by county in Washington state?” Shriya Iyer and Sherry Wang, Interlake High School

WTN, a program of the Washington State Department of Health, is dedicated to increasing public access to health and environmental data. Through data tools, strategic partnerships, and support for evidence-based decision-making, WTN aims to advance health outcomes and promote health equity across Washington state.

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