From Algorithm to Aria: 10 Regeneron STS 2026 Finalists who Love the Arts

Scientists are often stereotyped as singularly focused, heads down in the lab. But for many of the 2026 Regeneron STS finalists, creativity does not stop at research. These students move easily between stage and studio, algorithm and aria, choreography and code. For them, the arts are not a distraction from science. They complement their depth of curiosity in scientific research.

Linus Chen-Plotkin
Germantown Friends School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

On Sunday nights, Linus can often be found at a Philadelphia blues bar, guitar in hand. “I like playing everything, from blues and jazz to rock and metal,” he says, but he’s been especially shaped by years of performing at a local blues jam since he was fifteen. His favorite moments include bringing his grandfather to hear him play and sharing the stage with professional musicians. “The beauty of the jam session is in the underlying chaos of improvised performance,” he reflects.

That same instinct for structure within spontaneity shows up in his research. In his Regeneron STS project, Linus created statistical tests to measure a melody’s “memory,” quantifying how composers balance repetition and surprise. Whether he’s singing “Ain’t No Sunshine” or analyzing Mozart, Linus is drawn to the same question: how do patterns create personality in music?

Mason Corey
Kingsway Regional High School (Swedesboro, New Jersey)

Mason Corey has been in over a dozen shows professionally, including a movie called Hideout. He says though he often plays a minor role in the cast, he just loves being on stage. “I had three lines and about 15 minutes of screen time; it was such an amazing experience! Working in this fast-paced environment has been truly amazing. I’ve learned to adapt on-the-fly, collaborate with many varying mindsets, and I’ve built friendships that will last a lifetime.”

Beyond acting and auditioning, Mason has combined his love of engineering with theater to do set design. Mason built a stage in his garage. “During COVID, all professional venues shut down, so I turned to my basement to create my own stage. Over the years, this has grown to the current setup in my garage, which includes 14 lights, projection design, an under-stage fog system, tracking sets and automated elements.” This built space has been Mason’s creative outlet. “I turn to this when academics become overwhelming.”

Jonathan Du
Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)

Jonathan Du turns friendship into art. “I’ve always loved art, and recently I made it a personal project to draw digital cartoon illustrations of all of my friends,” he says. In each drawing, he captures their hobbies, quirks and personalities of his friends, from their love of board games and badminton to card tricks and stuffed animals. “It’s helped me exercise my creative muscle while also deepening my appreciation for the friendships that connect us.”

When he is not sketching, Jonathan gravitates toward storytelling and play. “I love board games, writing and drawing,” he says, unwinding through strategy-heavy games like Scythe or social-deduction favorites like Avalon and Coup. Whether through illustration or imagination, he sees creativity as a way to build and preserve community.

Leanne Fan
Westview High School (San Diego, California)

Leanne paints in oils, drawn to the techniques of the old masters. “I love to paint in my free time. I’m especially fascinated by how the old masters rendered skin and cloth by layering oils to manipulate light, creating luminous, vibrant depictions of their subjects,” she says.

Her creativity also extends to the kitchen. “I experiment with ice cream and flavor chemistry, and it’s a lot more complicated than you’d think. Learning about freezing point depression, how different gums hydrate, the gel networks they form together and the exact percentages of fat and solids needed for the perfect creamy texture is so fun.” The reward is getting to test “crazy” flavor combinations you cannot buy in stores, from salted lavender goat cheese with strawberry crumble. Or bacon and eggs.

Ella Lu
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (Durham, North Carolina)

Ella did a computational research project, where she set out to translate abstract artistic principles into something measurable, using machine learning to analyze composition in Impressionist paintings. By studying how elements are arranged within a frame, she explored how intuition in art can become systematic.

Outside her research, creativity takes many forms. Ella paints, draws and creates digital art, crochets handmade gifts for friends and plays both piano and guitar. “I love collecting different ways to be creative—whether that’s sketching my favorite characters, crocheting amigurumi and custom pieces for friends, or playing pop songs by ear on the piano,” she says. As co-editor-in-chief of Blue Mirror, her school’s literary arts magazine, she also helps shape a creative community. “I help encourage others to share their own creative voices.”

Ananya Nagendra
Plano East Senior High School (Plano, Texas)

Long before she was rearing ant colonies in a home-built lab, Ananya was learning to command a stage. Ananya was named Singer of the Year by the choir department at her high school in 2024. She also sings with the Greater Dallas Choral Society for children and youth and has been performing “my whole life, starting at age three.” Classically trained in both Carnatic music and opera, she recently performed with the Dallas Opera as a Soprano 1 in Hansel & Gretel, selected as one of just six singers from a pool of 350. “I’ve been a singer my whole life,” she says simply, a statement that carries years of rehearsal rooms, auditions and performances. Despite describing herself as “an introvert through and through,” Ananya continues to step into the spotlight. She has performed as a soloist more than twenty times and was invited to sing as a jazz soloist at the Dallas Holiday Parade before an audience of more than 50,000. Whether she is sustaining a soaring soprano line or explaining how ants can mitigate methane production, Ananya is guided by the same belief: “You will never regret going after your driving curiosity.” Ananya is also founder of Letters of Light Foundation, a 501(c)(3) working to give cancer patients access to mental health care.

Iris Shen
The Woodlands College Park High School (Woodlands, Texas)

Art has long been one of Iris’s primary forms of expression, spanning from oil portraits to digital fan art and animation. Her work has earned state and national recognition, including a National Silver Medal from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Over three consecutive years, her paintings were selected for auction at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo Art Auction, where her pieces collectively raised more than $100,000 for student scholarships.

She says, “I’m a big fan of drawing — painting, sculpting, digital design and ink. I’ve loved experimenting with different mediums and hope to try out even more in the future,” she says. “When I see or feel something that really connects with me, I can’t help but channel that inspiration through my artwork.”

Recently, she was commissioned by her school district to paint a portrait for the dedication of a new elementary school, creating a lasting tribute now displayed for future generations of students. As an animal lover, she is especially drawn to exploring how humans interact with the natural world. She has also built an online following of more than 22,000 on TikTok, where she shares hand-drawn art and animations inspired by her favorite stories.

Uma Sthanu
Westwood High School (Austin, Texas)

“Dancing formed the rhythm of my childhood, giving me a creative outlet that grew me as a person and innovator,” Uma says. Years of classical training shaped her discipline, but her sense of wonder led her to explore new styles of dance and new ways of expressing herself. What began as personal joy has grown into a vision for service. Her dream volunteer project is to create a traveling studio that offers no-cost dance classes for children from diverse communities, helping them build confidence through movement. When she is not dancing, Uma writes short stories and reflective essays, designs and crochets her own clothing, and finds inspiration both in crowded cities and on quiet hiking trails. She hopes to visit the Pacific Northwest soon, drawn to its forests and coastlines, but wherever she goes, dance remains a constant, a way of sharing creativity, resilience and joy with others.

Vallabh Ramesh
DuPont Manual High School (Louisville, Kentucky)

Outside the lab, Vallabh Ramesh turns to digital design as a creative outlet. “I really enjoy digital design,” he says. Using Photopea, he creates wallpapers inspired by the glossy color palettes and skeuomorphic textures of early 2010s Frutiger Aero interfaces. He gravitates toward bold color schemes and dimensional imagery, drawn to the balance between realism and imagination that defined that era of technology.

Those same creative instinct shape his scientific work. Long before he engineered thermo-responsive polymer gels for 3D printing, Vallabh was experimenting with visual design. “My creative ideas for 3D design, especially while trying to learn Fusion360, pushed me to want to involve myself in science research,” he explains. Whether he’s tuning a gel composition or perfecting a digital wallpaper, the throughline is the same: curiosity, iteration and a desire to build something both functional and expressive. For Vallabh, engineering is not separate from art. It is simply another medium.

Alyssa Yu
Poolesville High School (Poolesville, Maryland)

Though Alyssa is known for her work in mathematics and computational biology, music has long been a steady part of her life. She has studied classical piano for ten years, performing in recitals and local competitions each year and earning recognition at the state level.

“I play classical music on the piano and perform in recitals and local competitions every year,” she says. Among her favorite pieces are Liszt’s Un Sospiro and Chopin’s “Aeolian Harp” Étude — technically demanding works that require both precision and control.

Outside of music and research, Alyssa gravitates toward small, joyful rituals. “I collect plushies,” she says. “They are not only adorable objects, but also great companions.” She cuddles her fruit plushies while watching suspenseful thrillers and marks the once-a-year bloom of the Queen of the Night flower on her windowsill by taking photos with her panda plushie, Boba, on her lap. “Watching her smile, I know she is also reveling in its magnificence.”