Alyssa Yu
Poolesville High School
Poolesville, MD
Spatiotemporal Two-Pathogen Dynamics on Metapopulation Networks
Alyssa Yu, 17, of Clarksburg, developed a new approach to modeling the spread of two interacting infections for her Regeneron Science Talent Search computational biology and bioinformatics project.
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Scientists can use computer models to predict hot spots and other features of single-pathogen epidemics, but these models don’t capture what happens when two diseases that impact one another spread at the same time, sometimes called a twindemic.
In her project, Alyssa found that she could use strategies from chemical analysis to help her model predict hot spots and identify strategic groups for vaccination. Her findings could help scientists understand co-epidemics like influenza and COVID-19 (flu-rona) or infections that happen alongside HIV.
The daughter of Jian Wang and Wei Yu, Alyssa attends Poolesville High School, where she captains the school math team and helps organize an annual tournament for middle-school students. Her math team won fifth place in Theoretical Computer Science at a student-organized mathematics competition. Alyssa has been swimming competitively for ten years and volunteers as an assistant coach for young swimmers with her neighborhood swim team.
Beyond the Project
As a volunteer leader of the student-run sustainability nonprofit EcoSwift, Alyssa helps host environmental seminars and manage outreach for the tennis ball recycling program.
FUN FACTS: Alyssa’s cherished collection of plushies includes scented fruits, which she squeezes during suspenseful movies. She keeps a Queen of the Night cactus on her windowsill.
