Pravalika Gayatri Putalapattu, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, has received a $70,000 award for designing a video-assisted workflow recognition program to monitor laparoscopic gallbladder surgeries in real time. Her work won seventh place at the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search. The 17-year-old’s program verifies a surgeon's actions and flags errors so immediate corrections can be made. 

“My program was inspired by my cousin in India, who died of a preventable brain surgery complication,” said Putalaputtu. “I wanted to create a tool that alleviates surgeons' stress and helps them perform better in the operating room.”

The program takes in live surgery video feed and analyzes it to identify surgical errors as they happen. Her new system is five times faster than similar systems used currently. 

“The speed of my program is extremely important, as workflow recognition tools are ultimately meant to be used on a real-time basis, in order to flag surgical errors as quickly as possible.”

“This project is extremely important to not just me, but my family in India who weren't all given the tools to succeed or solve big problems,” Putalapattu continued. “I'm working on this project in an attempt to make the most of the resources and the luck I was given, in order to make the world a better place for all.”

Putalapattu says she will be putting the award money toward her undergraduate education. She plans to major in computer science and physics and hopes to one day work in quantum computing. 

In total, more than $1.8 million was awarded to the competition’s finalists, who were evaluated based on their projects’ scientific rigor, their exceptional problem-solving abilities and their potential to become scientific leaders. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Society for Science host the competition, which is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.