A student at Jericho High School is celebrating becoming a finalist in the national Regeneron Science Competition.

For this year's competition, there is one finalist from Long Island, Ashka Shah, from Jericho High School.

Student entrants submit original research in critically important scientific fields of study and are judged by leading experts in their fields.

Ashka studied how healthy cell growth systems go awry in cancer. She examined how a mutant β-catenin protein drives cancer cell growth with the help of protein Gid8, and she found a way to block this interaction with a small part of β-catenin. Her work points toward possible treatments for these cancers.

Ashka volunteers with Fork and Spoon, helping organize weekly food donations to a soup kitchen.

From March 5-11, 2026, finalists will participate in a week-long competition where they will undergo a rigorous judging process to compete for more than $1.8 million in awards.

Each finalist, selected from more than 2,600 entrants, will receive $25,000.

The top 10 awards will be announced during an awards ceremony on March 10, 2026.

Jericho had a total of 10 semifinalist students, the most of any school in the country.

Long Island had the most semifinalists for any region - 33.

A total of 2,600 students from 826 high schools across the United States entered the competition.

Semifinalists were awarded $2,000 for their achievement.