Luis Vidal Jr., a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics Sciences, and the Arts, has been named a 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar.
The Regeneron Science Talent Search is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science research competition for high school students. The competition sponsored by the Society for Science recognizes the nation’s most promising young scientists who are developing ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges, according to the organization’s website.
Vidal of Fort Smith was one of 300 Scholars chosen from a pool of 2,612 entrants from 826 American and international high schools. He is one of three scholars from Arkansas. Scholars were chosen based on their outstanding research, leadership skills, community involvement, commitment to academics, creativity in asking scientific questions and exceptional promise as STEM leaders demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent research projects, essays and recommendations.
Scholars receive a $2,000 award and their school receives a matching prize. From the pool of 300 scholars, 40 Finalists will be chosen to attend the Regeneron Science Talent Institute in Washington, D.C., in March. Each Finalist will be awarded a minimum of $25,000 with a top prize of $250,000. The Finalists will be named on Jan. 21.
Vidal was recognized for his project “Designing Substrates to Test HELB as a Potential Therapeutic Agent Against Glioma and Colon Adenocarcinoma.” HELB is an acronym for helicase B, an enzyme that plays an important role in keeping your DNA stable and healthy while also helping the cell progress through the cell cycle, Vidal said. Too much HELB can reduce survival rates in patients with colon and brain cancer. Vidal’s study explored ways to inhibit HELB production that could lead to possible development of anti-cancer drugs.
He was stunned when he learned he had been selected as a Scholar. “It just feels unreal seeing all my hard work and sacrifice paying off,” Vidal said. “However, it is more than an award. I get to join the community of future STEM leaders and trailblazers who have previous and are currently developing novel research to tackle global challenges.”
Vidal conducted the research for his paper in the laboratory of Dr. Alicia K. Byrd, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Byrd said Vidal’s biochemistry experiments in her lab held her team identify a good substrate for measuring the activity of an enzyme.
“Luis’ work enabled us to develop a high-throughput assay to identify enzyme inhibitors that could potentially be used to improve cancer therapy,” Byrd said. “Luis was fun to have in the lab because he is incredibly enthusiastic and curious. Through hard work and persistence, he collected a lot of data using different substrates that helped us optimize the substrate in our assays. I’m excited that Luis was recognized by the Regeneron Science Talent Search for his hard work.”
Vidal said his UAMS experience helped him gauge the realities of research as well as building personal and mentor relationships in the field.
“UAMS opened so many doors to what I could have accomplished,” Vidal said. “UAMS has so many labs and resources to do multiple great things. The techniques that you learn (at UAMS) and learn here at ASMSA are not much different, but the resources you have there are crazy.”
Byrd wasn’t the only person who recognized Vidal’s positive approach to research. Dr. Whitney Holden, a Life Sciences Instructor of Excellence at ASMSA, serves as an on-campus co-adviser for Vidal along with Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak, who serves as the Science Department chair and is also a Life Sciences Instructor of Excellence. Holden said she remembers times that Vidal would tell her that his experiments hadn’t worked or something in his plan had gone awry requiring him to pivot to a different plan.
“Instead of stress, anxiety or disappointment, he was smiling each time! He never let those times where things weren’t going according to plan faze him at all. Rather, he pushed forward through the challenge with a smile (literally!) on his face the whole time,” Holden said.
Holden also highlighted Vidal’s dedication to his research. During the Spring 2025 semester, Vidal arranged his class schedule to be able to spend three full days a week at UAMS.
“Many students arrange their free periods to prioritize sleeping in or having a longer lunch break, but not Luis! For him, it was all about maximizing his time in the lab,” Holden said.
He carried that same attitude into summer break. Rather than going home to Fort Smith during the summer, Vidal stayed on ASMSA’s campus so that it was a shorter drive from Hot Springs to Little Rock rather than from his home.
In addition to being able to live on campus during the summer, Vidal also was a recipient of a Murphy USA Summer Research Fellowship through the ASMSA Foundation Fund. The award allowed Vidal to focus on his research instead of having to find a summer job.
“Both of these were absolutely essential because they made it possible for Luis to spend 40-plus hours a week at UAMS all summer. ASMSA has supported many students over the years in helping them access summer opportunities that would otherwise not have been possible,” Holden said.
Holden wasn’t surprised to see Vidal become so engaged in his research, however. When Vidal applied to attend ASMSA as a sophomore, Holden participated in his admissions interview. She remembers being impressed by his maturity and positivity. During the interview, he asked Holden about her own dissertation research, offering intelligent and insightful questions.
“Then he took the initiative to send me follow-up questions by email,” Holden said. “I sent him a brief explanation along with a link to my dissertation and suggested he look at a particular figure. Luis went far beyond that, taking the time to read much more of my dissertation and then sent me more questions and ideas. In all my years of teaching, no high school student has ever had the tenacity to read my dissertation and then engage in dialogue about it afterward!”
While receiving the recognition helped affirm his belief in himself and his work, the true value comes in knowing that perhaps his work will help make a difference one day, Vidal said.
“It feels great knowing that my research could potentially help many others. My lab is one of a few labs in the world who study HELB, so everything we do is paving the way for the future,” he said.
To learn more about the competition, visit www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/.