In the last month, Logan High School senior Angela Zhan has been recognized by both Gov. Spencer Cox and Rep. Blake Moore, due to her participation in the 41st annual Research Science Institute held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this past summer.
Zhan was one of 100 students selected worldwide to participate in the event. The students were chosen based on "high school records, personal essays, standardized test scores, teacher recommendations, research experience, potential for leadership, and honors and awards in math and science," according to the press release.
Gov. Cox and Rep. Moore met with Zhan in person to congratulate her. In his letter of recognition to her, Gov. Cox said: "I commend you for the outstanding work you have done and the devoted time you have put toward excelling in science, technology, engineering and math."
Zhan's resume includes engineering bacteria from The Great Salt Lake to both degrade plastic and then create bioplastic, founding a STEM nonprofit as a sophomore in high school and research on Parkinson's Disease. She also voluntarily plays piano at Logan Regional Hospital and Terrace Grove Assisted Living.
Her work with bacteria, done in middle school, was one of Angela's first big projects and was influenced by her love for the environment.
"I'm very passionate about nature and fixing or helping mitigate the problems that we can see right now, caused by a lot of things like plastic pollution and climate change," Zhan said. "I'm trying to create solutions to help solve these problems."
By the time Zhan was in high school, she decided she wanted to start an organization to help spread STEM education. In 2021, she founded YouthSTEM and has since grown the organization to allow STEM programs in multiple states. The organization offers many forms of education such as online webinars, in-school programs, tutoring and even learning math through music.
Zhan said her organization is something modeled after what she wished she had as a young student with a love for STEM.
"It's only been four years since I was in middle school and I wish I had somebody to tutor me through all of that ... a tutor that's been through all the math competitions," Zhan said. "Without a person telling me what it's going to be like ... it was kind of like searching through the dark.
"It's very nice seeing them improve and I love helping them learn new things. It's always exciting when they're able to solve problems on their own and accomplish all of this great work through my teachings and through their hard work."
The bulk of Angela's team includes around 20 other high school students, as well as Utah State University Assistant Professor Dr. Joanna Liyuan Hou and Logan High School science teacher Christina Howell. Zhan said while she oversees the organization, it could not be done without the help of her team.
While Zhan was at MIT this summer, she did her work on Parkinson's, working closely with Dr. Sumaiya Nazeen from Harvard Medical School. Their work looked at patients with relatively increased rates of Parkinson's symptoms, trying to figure out why this might be happening.
"Eighty-five to 90 percent of Parkinson's, we don't know what's causing it so we can't find a cure," Zhan said. "... I'm hoping with research like this and future research into Parkinson's, we can actually find a cure or slow down the rate of Parkinson's to give those with Parkinson's a better quality of life."
During her six weeks at MIT, most of Zhan's time was spent with researchers, attending lectures and finishing her project during "hell week," the final week. However, she did get a break from her work when she was able to have dinner with one of her idols Dr. Feng Zhang, an MIT professor of neuroscience, brain and cognitive science and biological engineering.
"It was very cool to hear from all of these experts in their field," Zhan said. "It's definitely an amazing experience because all of the kids there were super smart too and very passionate about STEM."
Professor Jixun Zhan, Angela's father, praises his daughter for her hard work in every aspect of her life. He said all he can do as a father is provide Angela with support and opportunities. He added that while he is a parent, his relationship with Angela is more complex than that. Noting sometimes they are "soccer friends," sometimes a driver for her and sometimes a tutor.
"There are different roles as parents and we try to learn from our kids," Professor Zhan said. "Of course I am proud of my kids and we want to see our kids be successful. I always emphasize, 'You work hard, also play hard.'"
Angela said at times, balancing everything can be difficult but spending time with her friends, family or her dog, Luna, can help her refresh. Her dad joked her biggest issue is only having 24 hours in the day.
Among her desires moving forward in her life are to go to Harvard University and continue growing her organization.
"I really support her effort in this nonprofit because she is not making money. She is helping other kids and helping society," Professor Zhan concluded.