Colgan High School Senior, Rania Lateef, won a place as a finalist of the best 40 in the Regeneron scientific talent research competition in 2025, a prestigious competition of science and mathematics.
Rania Lateef, a person aged by Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School and the School of the Governor @ Innovation Park, studies the effect of prolonged exposure on blue light. (Thanks to Rania lateef)
With the kind authorization of Rania Lateef
Rania Lateef, a person in Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School and the Governor’s school @ innovation park, poses for a photo in front of a card. (Thanks to Rania lateef)
With the kind authorization of Rania Lateef
Rania lateef, senior of Charles J. Colgan Sr. High School and the School of the Governor @ Innovation Park, stands before her presentation of a project: “Rhythms and blues: evaluation of the impact of the artificial exposure of light and circadian disturbances on Melangaster. “(Thanks to Rania lateef)
With the kind authorization of Rania Lateef
Even if she has participated in scientific fairs since she was in primary school, Rania Lateef does not consider herself as a “hard” STEM student.
But the sciences evolve and have started to incorporate more psychology and research on mental health, therefore even if the senior of the secondary school of Colgan was considered more a student in human sciences, his classmates and his teachers convinced it to consider submitting research and finding competitions in which participate.
After the top of the pandemic, when many people spent hours looking for the screens, lateef – daughter of the president of the school board of Prince William, Babur Lateef, considered what effect would have all this time of screen. It has become curious about sleep disturbance could have an impact on mental and physical behavior.
This has become the basis of lateef’s research, which won him a place as a finalist of the best 40 The Regeneron 2025 scientific talent research competitionA prestigious competition of science and mathematics.
“Our world is sort of moving to a more digital world,” said lateef. “And there are a lot of health implications that accompany the digital world that I don’t think people make.”
Research, which lateef led using fruit flies, was divided into phases. In the first part, she studied the effect of disturbed sleep and circadian rhythms on mood, mortality and dependence. She found that a “severe circadian dysfunction can decrease” the lifespan of flies.
The second phase, said lateef, revealed that prolonged exposure to blue light for eight to 12 hours can cause altered memory, increased mortality and accelerated intestinal aging.
“I really wanted to make known the reasons why we have to pay more attention to sleep more or less screen time,” said Lateef.
The results, said lateef, reveal that the “duration of exposure to exposure to blue light is important, and it can have an impact on memory, mood and even lifespan”.
“We have to stop creating new problems for ourselves by understanding and protecting our own biological rhythms,” said Lateef.
The 40 finalists were selected from more than 2,000 candidates across the country, said public schools of Prince William County in a press release. The 300 best students obtain a scholarship of $ 2,000, and the first 40 each receive a minimum scholarship of $ 25,000.
Lateef is expected to participate in a one -week competition at DC next month, to have the chance to win the first prize of $ 250,000.
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