61st Annual STS (2001–2002)
Finalists
Yang Li

NEW YORK
Yang Li, 17, of Setauket, performed research related to developing a safer, more specific vaccine for Lyme disease for his Intel Science Talent Search project in medicine and health. Before starting his original research, which he performed at SUNY Stony Brook, Yang spent three summers volunteering or working in immunology laboratories. In his project, Yang identified a monoclonal antibody that binds only to a specific outer surface protein, then embarked on a series of experiments that identified the specific antigenic determinant leading to a protective reaction by the immunoglobulin. He believes his discovery may lead to the first peptide vaccine for Lyme disease, a safer alternative to current full-length protein vaccines. Born in the People's Republic of China, Yang has been on the Latin and math teams and was a member of the speech/debate and history clubs and the concert and marching bands at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket. He plays the clarinet, piano and saxophone, reads Chinese, Latin, Spanish and French fluently, and has perfect SAT scores. The son of Dr. Haifang Li and Xiaohua Yang, he hopes to attend Harvard.