Texas teen wins $150K for clam cancer study

Iris Shen, a 17-year-old high school student from The Woodlands, Texas, has won third place and $150,000 in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search for her innovative cancer research. Shen explored whether marine clams with naturally occurring blood cancer could serve as an alternative animal model for studying leukemia drugs. Her project found that the drug she tested produced effects in the clams similar to those seen in human cells, indicating that the clam model could be a less expensive, faster, and potentially more ethical way to conduct early-stage cancer drug research.

Shen's research suggests that the clam model could have potential for early drug discovery, although further research would be needed before it could become a widely used model for cancer research.

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