Blazers place in epidemiology competition

Seniors Tian Yang and Maria Choi were selected as two of 120 nationwide finalists and semifinalists in the Youth Epidemiology Scholars Competition, a scientific-writing competition that measures the ability to formulate original research studying a disease or epidemic.

Yang was selected as one of 60 finalists with a project titled, "Relationship of Acetaminophen and NSAID Use to Liver Disease among Hepatitis-C Infected Hemophiliacs."

Yang studied the relationship between over-the-counter medication and liver disease among hemophiliacs, analyzing race, age, ethnicity and HIV infection-rates to draw his conclusions. He worked at the National Cancer Institute's Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics this past summer.

Maria Choi was selected as a semifinalist, winning a $1,000 scholarship for her project titled, "Age of Onset of Obesity and Eating-Disorder Pathology in Overweight and Normal-Weight Children." She worked at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, a branch of NIH, this summer.

The next step for Yang will be to compete at the regional finalist round with nine other finalists selected from this area. The two top finishers from that round will then move on to the national round, where the top two finishers will each get $50,000. In total, over $456,000 will be awarded to the 120 finalists and semifinalists.