Georgia Bio Names Milton High School Senior as Georgia BioGENEius Winner

Shreya Ramesh Advances in International Competition Against Top Students 

Atlanta, GA (April 6, 2020)  – Georgia Bio and the Georgia BioEd Institute today named  Shreya Ramesh , a senior at Milton High School in Milton, GA, as the winner of the 2020 Georgia BioGENEius Challenge, the premier competition for high school students that recognizes outstanding research and innovation in the biotechnology field.  As Georgia’s BioGENEius finalist, Shreya will attend the 2020 International BioGENEius competition, which will be held virtually during the BIO Digital Convention.

Shreya will compete against high school students from the U.S., Canada and Germany in the International BioGENEius Challenge. The student projects will represent a range of biotechnology topics such as healthcare, agriculture, and the environment.

Shreya Ramesh headshot
Shreya Ramesh, 2020 Georgia BioGENEius Challenge Winer

Shreya’s award-winning research uses machine learning to assess the voice features of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients. The voices of ALS patients are characteristically slower, higher pitched, and softer than the voices of individuals who do not have ALS. Using ALS voice feature data, Shreya created a voice compensation algorithm to convert the ALS patient’s voice into one more similar to a non-ALS patient. This allowed the ALS patient’s voice to be better recognized by Automatic Speech Recognition (ARS) programs like Google Voice or Amazon’s Alexa. ALS patients often rely on ARS programs due to their limited mobility, but their voice features are not recognized by these programs.

“The BioGENEius Challenge highlights the breakthroughs made when we invest in and encourage young people to pursue their ideas,” said Georgia Bio President and CEO Maria Thacker. “Georgia Bio is thrilled that Shreya will represent our state at the upcoming BIO Convention. We are proud to support this Georgia scholar as she develops tomorrow’s healthcare innovations.”

Georgia Bio also congratulates the Georgia BioGENEius runner-up,  Krish Wadhwani  of Denmark High School in Alpharetta, GA. Krish’s project focused on the production of synthetic antibody mimics (SyAMs) as treatment for Huntington’s disease (HD) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The SyAMs are engineered antibodies that can bind to the misshapen proteins responsible for causing symptoms in HD and AD. This would inhibit the proteins and help control symptoms of the disease. Krish plans to continue this research and next hopes to get funding to pursue clinical production and testing of the antibodies. 

Krish Wadhwani headshot
Krish Wadhwani, 2020 Georgia BioGENEius Challenge Runner-Up

Judging the 2020 Georgia BioGENEius were Jamie L. Graham, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton; Ralph L. Cordell, CDC; and Ian Biggs, UGA.

National and International winners will be announced after the competition. See the  International BioGENEius website  for more information on the revised 2020 schedule. Winners will receive cash scholarships.

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Follow the BioGENEius Challenge:  Throughout the challenge, @BiotechInstitut will be tweeting interviews, photos, and engaging with the biotechnology community by using the hashtag #BioGENEius.

About the Biotechnology Institute

The Biotechnology Institute is an independent, national nonprofit organization dedicated to education about the present and future impact of biotechnology.  Its mission is to engage, excite and educate the public, particularly students and teachers, about biotechnology and its immense potential for solving human health, food and environmental problems.  For more information, visit www.biotechinstitute.org.

About the GeorgiaBioEd Institute 
The Georgia BioEd Institute is a division of Georgia Bio, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving the state’s life science industry. The Institute’s mission is to strengthen Georgia’s life sciences workforce pipeline through classroom-to-career initiatives that align with industry needs. Learn more at  www.georgiabioed.org  |  www.gabio.org.

MEDIA CONTACT : 

Maria Thacker
404-920-2042
mthacker@gabio.org

Georgia Life Sciences Joins National Coalition Urging Congressional Action on Key Innovation Policies

December 10, 2025
Georgia Life Sciences has joined 43 state and regional life sciences organizations in signing a national Council of State Bioscience Associations (CSBA) letter calling on Congress to take immediate action on three bipartisan policy priorities that are essential to sustaining U.S. leadership in biomedical innovation and supporting patients nationwide. With Congress back in session and several critical programs at risk of expiring, the letter urges congressional leaders to advance the following provisions without delay: 1. Reauthorize the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher (PPRV) Program The PPRV program has been instrumental in incentivizing the development of therapies for children with rare and life-threatening conditions. Its lapse threatens to slow or halt research that families across the country are counting on. 2. Extend the SBIR/STTR Programs The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide crucial early-stage capital for emerging biotech and medtech companies—many of them in Georgia. Without reauthorization, hundreds of innovative small businesses face uncertainty, jeopardizing new therapies, diagnostics, and technologies in the pipeline, 3. Advance PBM Transparency Reforms Greater transparency and accountability within pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices are needed to ensure that savings reach patients and employers. Reforming PBM operations is essential to strengthening access and affordability across the healthcare system. A Unified Message from the Life Sciences Community The sign-on letter reflects broad, bipartisan alignment across the national life sciences ecosystem: researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, patient advocates, and state associations all share a common message— these programs underpin America’s global competitiveness and are vital to patients who rely on continued scientific progress. Georgia Life Sciences has shared the letter with members of Georgia’s congressional delegation and will continue engaging with policymakers to emphasize the importance of swift action.

GLS Joins Georgia Partners in Calling for Federal PBM Reform

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GLS’ President and CEO, Maria Thacker Goethe in December's issue of Georgia Trend

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Georgia Life Sciences’ CEO, Maria Thacker Goethe shares her perspective on the value of Georgia’s research universities in this month’s issue of Georgia Trend. “Georgia research institutions have felt a very significant impact from the federal rollbacks, specifically in NIH and NSF funding. Thacker Goethe’s message about the impact of research cuts is simple: Disruption shatters the foundational trust researchers have in grant continuity….” To read the full article, click here .
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