Jessica Palmer, a senior at Ossining High School, placed first nationwide in the 2007-08 Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition, held this past weekend in Washington, D.C. She won a $50,000 college scholarship.

More than 550 high school students from across the nation entered the competition, which is sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered by the College Board, and is designed to spur students’ interest in the field of public health, particularly epidemiology.

A panel of leading scientists, epidemiologists and educators judged Palmer’s project, “Examining Repetitive Behaviors in Parents and Siblings of Individuals with Autism.”

Palmer is a member of the Fundamentals of Science Research Program, which began at OHS in 1998 with 12 students. Today, 70 students in Grades 10, 11 and 12 participate in the three-year program with two full-time science research teachers. Students work with local mentors who are experts in their fields to conceptualize and conduct challenging research, which consistently achieves honors from such groups as Westinghouse, the Intel Science Talent Search, and regional science corporations.

(Report courtesy of Nicole Reis/Ossining school district.)