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Congratulations to Yorktown High School senior Raka Bose, whose AI technology recently earned her a spot as one of the top 300 scholars in the 2023 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a prestigious research competition for high school seniors.
Raka’s desire to “reimagine health care” through the use of artificial intelligence started with a personal experience.
Hospitalized due to an anaphylactic reaction, Raka witnessed first-hand the need to develop a more efficient patient triage system that would reduce patient waiting time and ease the burden on health care workers.
That experience inspired her to develop a chatbot named Daisy, which has already experienced real-world success.
Raka’s bot was deployed in a hospital ICU, where the bot categorized COVID and long-COVID cases and suggested treatment options. Most patients who used Daisy spent just 11-15 minutes reporting their information, a 95 percent reduction.
“From my own experiences, I grasped the dire need for AI-driven automation of particular tasks to free up care teams to focus on critical functions requiring human interaction,” Raka said.
Her science research project, which she began during her sophomore year, stood out among a pool of 1,949 applicants from hundreds of high schools across the nation. Raka’s project has also earned her an invitation to work with a group of scientists and doctors and the World Health Organization on its long-COVID research.
Mr. Paul Rubeo, a science research teacher at Yorktown High School, said he was proud of Bose's accomplishments and noted her years of hard work and dedication.
“Her project has real-world applications that will potentially help thousands of people worldwide,” Mr. Rubeo said. “One of our goals in the research program is to have students develop projects that they are passionate about and that are impactful to the broader community. She embodies those goals and has excelled in the program.”
As a Regeneron scholar, Raka has secured a $2,000 scholarship for both herself and Yorktown High School. Raka said she will use the award money to further develop Daisy, which she wants to roll out in areas with limited access to health care.
Raka said she is grateful for the support she has received from science research teachers and her family: “Whether it’s cutting tons of fruit for me while I work long hours on my research paper, or listening to my many practice presentations, their encouragement kept me motivated.”
The high school senior said she plans to go into the sciences and continue her research through college and beyond. Her areas of interest include astrophysics and neuroscience. Raka said she looks forward to further pursuing her passion for science, as well as sharing her love for science with younger students.
In late January, 40 of the top Regeneron scholars will be selected as finalists and will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards during a weeklong competition that will take place in March in Washington, D.C.
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