Springfield, IL (WAND) – A Springfield High School student spent more than a year researching two fast-growing cancers and earned a spot on the international stage, all before starting her senior year.

Garg said she reached out to hundreds of professors seeking high school research opportunities, which connected her with a researcher at the University of Southern California. She spent three months conducting lab research there before returning to Illinois to complete the next portion of the research.

She first presented her findings at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science state fair, where she was one of nine Illinois students selected to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona. Of those nine students, she was the only one not from Northern Illinois.

“I was the only student from central Illinois,” Garg said. “I was very honored and also very proud.”

At the ISEF, Garg shared her project with 10 judges with a high level of education. The judges provided students with feedback on whether they would continue their research in the future.

“I met an oncologist, and they were very fascinated by this project,” Garg said. “They said that they had administered this in leukemia patients … and they said that they would love to explore this in a professional lab setting.”

There were 1,600 students representing 80 countries at ISEF. Garg won a four-year presidential scholarship to the Florida Institute of Technology for her presentation at ISEF.

Right now, Garg is focusing on other research opportunities and starting her final year of high school.

“I also want to continue to advance science and to make an impact on the scientific and research world,” Garg said. “So I would love to be a physician who also continues to do research.”