By Devin Powell
WASHINGTON — Nithin Tumma captains his high school’s robotics team and plays tennis. But it’s his work to understand the wily ways of cancer that has made him a champion. For figuring out how a protein helps cancer evolve and hide from the body’s immune system, Tumma, 17, won first place in the 2012 Intel Science Talent Search. Tumma, who lives in Fort Gratiot, Mich., received a $100,000 award from the Intel Foundation at a black-tie gala held March 13 in Washington, D.C.
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The event honored this year’s 40 finalists, who distinguished themselves from more than 1,800 entries. The budding scientists hailed from 16 states and split $630,000 in awards. One of the nation’s longest running precollege science competitions, the Intel Science Talent Search has been administered by Society for Science & the Public, which publishes Science News, since 1942.
“There are 40 individuals here who prove we still have the capability in this country to cultivate the next generation of innovators, thinkers, scientists and entrepreneurs,” Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini told the students at the gala. “I’m keenly looking forward to watching you make wonderful things happen in the coming years.”