Alexandria Students Win National Prize for Heart Repair Tech

Four Alexandria students just won recognition for an idea that could one day save millions of lives damaged by heart attacks.

Ruhi Nalla, Rishitha Mantri, Saanvi Agiwal, and Aashika Pesaladinne took home regional honors at the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision 2026 competition for SYNCARDIA, their concept for repairing hearts after cardiac damage. Their vision uses targeted nanoparticles guided by ultrasound to convert useless scar tissue back into functioning heart muscle.

The motivation came from watching loved ones struggle. "We've all seen how scary heart attacks can be for our families, and we wanted to do something that actually makes a difference," Nalla explained at the awards ceremony held at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

After a heart attack, damaged areas turn into scar tissue that can't pump blood like healthy muscle can. SYNCARDIA aims to restore that lost function, giving hearts a second chance.

The path to their winning design wasn't smooth. The team grappled with a critical challenge: how to ensure the treatment would only target damaged tissue without affecting healthy parts of the heart.

"After a lot of research, we found that ultrasound technology could guide the nanoparticles directly to the site," Agiwal said. That breakthrough became the foundation of their entire approach.

The project pushed the students into unfamiliar territory. Pesaladinne had never touched computer-aided design software before, but the team learned to use CAD and 3D printing to build their prototype. "My favorite part was being pushed to try new things," she said.

ExploraVision stands out among STEM competitions because it asks students to imagine technologies 10 or more years into the future. That requirement forces participants beyond simple science projects into genuine innovation.

"It really challenged our imagination," Mantri said. "Our decision to participate gave us the opportunity to think innovatively and out of the box about how science and technology might be used to address problems in the future."

Why This Inspires

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, affecting millions of families every year. While these students can't implement their solution yet, they're already thinking like the researchers and doctors who will tackle tomorrow's biggest health challenges.

The team received award certificates, individual Chromebooks, and the chance to present their work on a national stage. More importantly, they proved that age doesn't limit vision. Sometimes the best solutions to our toughest problems come from minds willing to imagine beyond current limitations.

These Alexandria students aren't just learning about the future of medicine. They're helping design it, one ambitious idea at a time.

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