60th Annual STS (2000–2001)
Finalists
Nelson Moussazadeh

NEW YORK
Nelson Moussazadeh, 17, of Great Neck, concentrated on the emerging field of tissue engineering for his Intel Science Talent Search project in medicine and health. Intrigued by the reported differentiation (modification) of mature connective muscle tissue into contracting cardiac muscle when transplanted into a rodent's heart, Nelson wondered if this phenomenon could be replicated in vitro in early-stage stem cells. To accomplish this replication, he simulated the heart's chemical environment in the laboratory and, he believes, successfully induced the differentiation of certain stem cells into contracting muscle tissue. His work is expected to provide new approaches in the treatment of heart disease. At Great Neck North High School, Nelson is on the mock trial team, active in the law and math clubs and runs cross-country. He participates in Columbia University's Science Honors Program and has earned several awards in science competitions. Nelson has also spent time building "useful and fun gadgets" and has invented the "Heat-it-Up Lunchbox" and "The Mailbox Notifier." The son of Saeid and Gilda Moussazadeh, he hopes to study molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale.