63rd Annual STS (2003-2004)
Finalists
Sean Dilip Raj

TEXAS
Sean Dilip Raj, 18, of Sugar Land, studied blood stem cell therapy and its potential as a treatment for heart failure in his Intel Science Talent Search project in medicine and health. Transplanted adult blood stem cells can generate mature cells that repair organs, including the heart, but the mechanism is not well understood. Sean demonstrated that these newly generated cells are created both by fusion (70%), where stem cells combine with existing heart cells, and by transdifferentiation (30%), where stem cells become heart cells via their unique ability to generate cardiac muscle cells. With promise of being a more accessible alternative to heart transplantation, stem cell therapy could treat many of the 5 million Americans afflicted annually. After graduating from Hightower High School in Missouri City, Sean would like to earn a combined B.A./M.D. at Rice and Baylor Universities and become a cardiologist. He has many science awards for his work on bottled water safety, and was honored as a U.S. finalist in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize. Sean has mentored middle schoolers on preparing for high school. Fluent in French and Gujurati, he is the son of Drs. Dilip Rajkotia and Saroj Vadhan-Raj.