Wanting to enter the biomedical engineering field, Roghani is no stranger to competitions and for years he has been testing his knowledge in math, biology, and science competitions like the Harvard MIT Math Tournament. This summer, he took that a step further and began working with two professors, Dr. Hemachandra Reddy and Danny Reible, and other scientists at both the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and the Texas Tech University Chemical Engineering Department to conduct laboratory research and write review articles.
That research coupled with his past experiences in other competitions, prompted him to enter the US Medicine and Disease Olympiad (USMDO), a competition for high school students that focuses on three areas of medicine-related biology including cell biology and genetics, human physiology, and human disease.
“I was already doing graduate level work at Texas Tech on things like Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson’s,” said Roghani. “I thought this would be the perfect competition for me and that I was already well prepared for it.”
On July 29, Roghani took the USMDO exam along with more than 1,200 other high school students, and out of the 160 questions he answered 157 correct, landing him second place in the nation and a spot on the Team USA for the International Medicine and Disease Olympiad (IMDO).
On August 6, representing Frenship, the Lubbock area, and the US, Roghani entered the World Championship for the IMDO, a three-hour online exam that consisted of multiple choice and free response questions that tested his knowledge and problem-solving skills related to medicine and disease. Much to his surprise, Roghani was once again a gold medalist, this time on the world stage after placing fourth at the international competition.
“At first, I was shocked. I kept reloading the website and email to see if I was hallucinating. Once I realized that it was true, I jumped up and ran out of the room to tell my dad the news of my results,” said Roghani.
Roghani says this experience is invaluable and he encourages other Frenship and area students to participate in competitions such as this. While his two gold medals have set him up for success and furthered his efforts to join an Ivy League school, he says it’s more than that.
“My goal isn’t just to get into a good school,” said Roghani. “My goal is to be successful and find ways to enhance human health.”
To find out more about the IMDO, test topics, and results, CLICK HERE.