Saratoga High School senior William Hu was part of a group that was named a regional winner in the Siemens science research competition.

Hu and his teammates from New York and Wisconsin developed a technique for growing dental pulp stem cells, which could potentially improve bone and tooth regeneration. Hu and his group members were awarded a $6,000 team scholarship and will be moving on to the final phase of the Siemens Competition to present their work at the National Finals in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5 and 6.

“I’m really proud we were able to make it this far,” Hu said. “Entering the competition didn’t really cross my mind until after I was introduced to the program. It was really exciting and unexpected.”

This is the first time Hu has entered a project into the Siemens competition.

Hu said he met his teammates at the Garcia Research Scholar program for high school students at Stony Brook University in New York over the summer.

“We all knew we wanted to do something with biomedical research,” Hu said. “We became quick friends, and the program has a history of working with dental stem cells.”

Hu said the research focused on grouping local dental stem cells that originate in teeth.

“They can be used to regenerate teeth and bone,” he said. “It’s a new way to regenerate teeth.”

Hu said the team conducted the research in Stonybrook’s labs creating different environments using stemcasting.

“We designed surfaces through bumps and holes, and then plated the holes onto the surfaces,” he said. “We looked at how these cells responded over 42 days.”

According to the Siemens competition, Hu’s group was among 96 students selected to participate in regional competitions across the country from more than 1,600 projects submitted this year.

“The team tackled a highly interdisciplinary problem that required a mastery of complex techniques in a variety of areas,” said competition judge Dr. Joel Boerckel, an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. “The team’s research presents a promising step forward, and has potential impact on diseases like periodontitis, a serious gum infection, where the degradation of dental bone tissue makes it extremely challenging to repair or replace a tooth until the bone grows back.”

Hu became interested in science, technology, engineering and math at an early age, and his interest expanded when he began competing in local and national science competitions.

Hu hopes to pursue a career in engineering and has an interest in the field of regenerative medicine.

He has received the Bausch & Lomb Honorary Science Award and the USA Computing Olympiad Gold Division award. In his spare time, Hu volunteers for his local food bank and plays on his school’s varsity volleyball team.