A University of Washington professor received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work designing new proteins, the building blocks of life.

David Baker, professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of the school鈥檚 Institute for Protein Design, received the prize for computational protein design, along with Demis Hassabis and John Jumper of Google DeepMind, whose work with artificial intelligence helps predict the shape of proteins.

Their work could help accelerate the creation of new medicines and vaccines, expand abilities to break down things like plastic and other pollutants, or open opportunities to build new materials altogether.

鈥淧roteins solve all of the problems that living things have to deal with,鈥� Baker told reporters on Wednesday. 鈥淪o if you can make new proteins, you can potentially solve a lot of current problems for which there aren鈥檛 proteins to deal with.鈥�

Baker, 62, is the eighth University of Washington faculty member and the sixth School of Medicine faculty member to receive the Nobel Prize.

Designing new proteins was always a 鈥渃razy idea鈥� 鈥� one scientists have been trying to crack for decades, Baker said.

His work eventually led him to create computer software that analyzes information about existing proteins in order to build new ones. That software, along with the use of Hassabis鈥� and Jumper鈥檚 artificial intelligence tools that predict protein structure, could help scientists more quickly and accurately understand and construct proteins.

鈥淒avid and his team really contributed and led the cracking of the code to protein structure, how amino acid chains fold together in a three-dimensional structure to be the building blocks of life,鈥� said Dr. Timothy Dellit, CEO of UW Medicine and dean of the UW School of Medicine.

Proteins from Baker鈥檚 lab have already contributed to the development of , , and a medication for celiac disease.

University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce called Baker鈥檚 work 鈥渁 truly visionary approach to protein science.鈥�

鈥淭his is as good as it gets,鈥� she told reporters Wednesday. 鈥淭his is about taking these great basic science ideas and pushing them out so that they make a difference in the world.鈥�

Baker grew up in Seattle, and his parents were both faculty members at the university. He completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University in 1984 and earned his doctorate in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. He joined the faculty at UW鈥檚 Department of Biochemistry in 1993.

For Baker, his work is just beginning. Now that his lab has figured out how to design new proteins, Baker said they will continue to experiment more with how to use them. For example, he and his students are looking at ways to block snake venom in the body, improve the efficiency of photosynthesis, or remove toxic tissue from the bloodstream.

He praised the university as an 鈥渁bsolutely wonderful place to do science.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e been here for a long time and never thought for a nanosecond about leaving,鈥� Baker said.

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Kim, a 12th grade student at West Lafayette High School, discovered his dog, Joy, had heartworm disease and ordered medicine through an online pharmacy.

But the medicine Kim ordered would not only be ineffective but also aggravate Joy’s illness even more.

Motivated by his dog鈥檚 health scare, Kim designed a way for people to verify the authenticity of pharmaceutical products 鈥� by printing an edible QR code directly on the medicine.

Kim was one of in middle and high school who presented their inventions and research projects focused on solving key global issues at the in Washington, DC.  

鈥淭here have been countless tragedies and deaths caused by either substandard, falsified or diverted pharmaceutical products,鈥� Kim told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 glad to have had this opportunity to raise more awareness of counterfeit medicine.鈥�

Hosted by and the , student innovators were selected from an array of nationwide competitions, including the where more than 2,500 students submitted projects across six categories: Environmental Stewardship, Future Foods, Health & Medicine, Powering the Planet, Tech for Good and Space Innovation.

Here are five student innovators featured at the National STEM Festival:

Joshua Kim, 18

West Lafayette High School 路 West Lafayette, Indiana

Among more than 50,000 online pharmacies worldwide, Kim found only 3 percent operate and distribute medicine legally 鈥� contributing to the annual deaths of over one million people.

Kim said the measures most pharmacies use to reduce counterfeit concerns are 鈥渓imited by low security,鈥� such as only tracking medicine through its exterior packaging.

鈥淚t’s easy for medicine to be removed from their packaging鈥nd dose level securities are either limited by the need for expensive technology or trained personnel,鈥� Kim said.

鈥淪o this means patients at home do not have access to ways of verifying their medicine.鈥�

Kim believes his edible QR code will allow people to ensure they are receiving genuine and legitimate medicine.

Ashley Valencia, 17

Harvest Preparatory Academy 路 Yuma, Arizona

Self-conscious about her crooked teeth, Arizona high schooler Ashley Valencia saw how expensive dental care can be growing up in a low-income family. But it wasn鈥檛 just her family that couldn鈥檛 afford dental care 鈥� many of her neighbors also struggled to afford it. 

Valencia, a 12th grade student at Harvest Preparatory Academy, channeled her insecurity to help students in developing countries who have even less access to proper oral hygiene products 鈥� by creating an affordable toothpaste and mouthwash using their native plants.

鈥淚 always knew I wanted to do something in medicine so when I thought about different [research] topics close to me, I started to think about my past experiences,鈥� Valencia told 蜜桃影视.

鈥淭hat’s why I created my own oral treatments that were easily accessible and affordable to people who might not have access to the things I had,鈥� she added.

Valencia said she shared her research with public schools in the Philippines to address their students鈥� dental concerns.

At the festival, Valencia said she plans to travel to developing countries across South and Southeast Asia to share her oral hygiene products.

鈥淏ecause I come from a school that doesn鈥檛 have a lot of resources鈥eing able to attend the festival and present my research to all of the important people that were there was really exciting,鈥� Valencia said.

Clarisse Telles Alvares Coelho, 18

New Mexico Military Institute 路 Roswell, New Mexico

From lion鈥檚 mane to king oyster, New Mexico high schooler and longtime vegetarian Clarisse Telles Alvares Coelho loves eating all types of mushrooms.

Coelho, a 12th grade student at the New Mexico Military Institute, said the misconceptions of mushrooms inspired her research project on their health benefits 鈥� particularly the abundance of a soluble fiber called beta-glucan.

鈥淚 knew many people didn鈥檛 like mushrooms鈥ut what if I was able to make them change their minds,鈥� Coelho told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淲ith beta-glucan acting in your immune system, our metabolism works faster.鈥�

Coelho said she was 鈥渧ery surprised鈥� to have the opportunity to present her project at the festival.

鈥淚t was such a great feeling because there was so much hard work and late nights put into researching this project鈥so] it was so amazing to be recognized,鈥� Coelho said.

Alicia Wright, 17

Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology 路 Conyers, Georgia

Concerned by our global carbon footprint, Georgia high schooler Alicia Wright discovered the majority of CO2 emissions come from the cement used in construction.

Wright, an 11th grade student at Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology, found a way to replace cement with mycelium 鈥� a type of fungi that can be transformed into a biodegradable construction material.

鈥淚 was inspired by the complexity of mycelium and how fungus works,鈥� Wright told 蜜桃影视. 鈥淭his will better the environment so that future generations can enjoy as we have.鈥�

At the festival, Wright said the diversity of students presenting their projects with her felt 鈥渆mpowering.鈥�

鈥淚t was very encouraging to see people with my skin color and gender presenting with me,鈥� Wright said.

Haasini Mendu, 16

William Mason High School 路 Mason, Ohio

Ohio high schooler Haasini Mendu came up with a way to improve medication dosage for Parkinson鈥檚 disease 鈥� a disorder that causes involuntary body movement, often called tremors.

Mendu, an 11th grade student at William Mason High School, designed a wearable device that quantifies the number of tremors someone has and automatically sends the information to an app she created called 鈥淭remorSense.鈥�

She said the information is processed through an 鈥淎I-based machine learning鈥� filter to distinguish between tremor and non-tremor movements.

Mendu said the opportunity to meet other students and build connections was her favorite part of the festival.

鈥淚t was very easy to make some friends and also learn about their very cool inventions and ideas,鈥� Mendu told 蜜桃影视.

鈥淗aving this recognition鈥eels motivating to continue working on my skills [because] there were so many people interested in what I鈥檓 trying to do with my research.鈥�

Today, we give center stage to Zidaan Kapoor, a homeschooled 15-year-old from Redwood City, California who knows a thing or two about the anxiety that comes with having food allergies. Zidaan was diagnosed with life-threatening food allergies when he was just a toddler, but it wasn鈥檛 until his most recent bout that he truly understood the dangers. 

鈥淭he aftermath was something I never experienced,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was debilitating anxiety.  I couldn鈥檛 eat. I couldn鈥檛 trust my family members [to prepare food for me].鈥�

So he developed an app called Fight Fears to solve this problem for both himself and his peers. Through a series of questions, the app analyzes the user鈥檚 anxiety level. Based on that, users get challenges to complete to quell that anxiety, with the goal of allowing users to feel more in control of their allergy fears. Zidaan also founded and operates a math and chess tutoring business for other youth.

But right now, he says he鈥檚 most concerned about social justice, climate change and mental health: 鈥淚鈥檓 kind of using all of this as a baseline to move forward in a way that I can discover as I move along.鈥�

See our full interview 鈥� and celebrate our full 2022 class! 

鈥擵ideo edited by James Fields and produced by Emmeline Zhao

Lydia has life-threatening allergies and suffers from severe anxiety, which causes her hair and nails to fall out. 鈥淪o much of her life feels out of her control, but instead of letting these things overwhelm her or define her, she uses them as fuel for inventions,鈥� said her nominator and mother, Covey Denton, a K-8 STEM specialty teacher.

One example: Lydia created what she calls a 鈥淗alcyon Bracelet鈥� to help with body-focused repetitive behaviors, which plagued her during the COVID quarantine. She鈥檚 also invented a 鈥淏eat the Heat Car Seat鈥� that can tell when a child has been left in a car, and initiates a call to emergency services if the temperature in the vehicle becomes dangerously hot.

The teen also works to reduce e-waste, and co-founded Regame Inc., a nonprofit that collects, repairs and redistributes used gaming systems and tablets to keep them from piling up in landfills. 

Above and beyond her creations and innovations, Denton also continues to speak to school groups and programs for girls to promote greater female interest and representation in STEM.

Watch our full interview 鈥� and celebrate our full 2022 class!

鈥擵ideo edited by James Fields and produced by Emmeline Zhao

Today, we鈥檙e casting a spotlight on 16-year-old Sydney Vaughn who we met in San Jose, California this past spring. Vaughn鈥檚 life has long been surrounded by medicine 鈥� not because it runs in the family, as no one in her immediate or extended family is in the medical field 鈥� but because her 15-year-old brother has special needs and has had 20 surgeries since birth.

For years, Sydney spent nearly every day after school accompanying her brother to appointments, which included cardiology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dermatology and pulmonology, among others. She did exercises with him during physical therapy, practiced making words with him in speech therapy and watched him sit in the sound booth for hearing tests.

鈥淔rom a young age, I was blessed to witness countless medical professionals work to help my brother,鈥� Sydney said. 鈥淚 hope to follow this template by dedicating my life鈥檚 work to patients and their families.鈥�

Two years ago, Sydney moved with her family from Texas to San Jose, where the homeless population grew by 11% during the pandemic. During that period, Sydney led a project to study and tackle medical care for the homeless in her new community. 

See our full interview 鈥� and celebrate our full 2022 class!

鈥擵ideo edited by James Fields and produced by Emmeline Zhao