Teen with juvenile arthritis creates lab cell model, earns $70,000 at national science contest
Claire Jiang, an 18-year-old from New Jersey who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, placed seventh in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search and won a $70,000 prize for developing a new laboratory cell model of the disease.
Diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at nine, Claire Jiang turned her personal experience into a research project that earned her seventh place in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search. Working in her school lab, she modified the adult rheumatoid arthritis cell line SW982 with bone morphogenetic protein 4, causing the cells to adopt growth and gene-expression profiles characteristic of juvenile arthritis synovial tissue.
This new in-vitro model could streamline drug screening and deepen understanding of the disease without relying on scarce patient samples. Her accomplishment was recognized with a $70,000 prize by the Society for Science and Regeneron, out of a field of almost 2,000 applicants. Jiang also balances her scientific pursuits with piano studies at the Manhattan School of Music, leads her school's Model United Nations team, and volunteers in a pediatric intensive care unit.
Why it matters
The student-developed model could accelerate research and treatment development for childhood arthritis.
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