59th Annual STS (1999–2000)
Finalists
Beeneet Kothari
NEW YORK
Beeneet Kothari, 17, of Deer Park, submitted to the
Intel Science Talent Search a mathematics project designed to improve current
understanding of the HIV virus and T cell dynamics. Combining his three
loves-mathematics, biology and computer science-he created a mathematical model
incorporating the effects of apoptosis (programmed cell death), anti-apoptotic
drug therapy, viral mutation and viral reservoirs. He concludes that
administering anti-apoptotic drugs in conjunction with others in a cocktail
improves the patient's condition during therapy and, more importantly, when the
patient is removed from it. At Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills,
Beeneet is president of the National Honor Society, the Science Olympiad team,
the Science Explorers club, and the Brainstormers Academic Quiz Bowl Team. A
native of India who is active in the Spanish honor society, he plays varsity
tennis and serves as a peer tutor in math, science and history. He has received
numerous academic awards and his El Niņo web site has earned distinction in the
press and in competition. The son of Navneet and Beena Kothari, Beeneet hopes to
attend MIT.
