Meet Myreen Ahsan, the Friendswood 8th-grader who screened over 10 million drug-like molecules

Myreen Ahsan (8th Grade, Friendswood Junior High) An eighth-grade student from Texas has used artificial intelligence and computer models to screen more than 10 million drug-like molecules in search of possible treatments for frontotemporal dementia. Myreen Ahsan, a student at Friendswood Junior High in Friendswood, Texas, carried out the computer-based study as part of an independent research project on neurodegenerative diseases. Her project examined large chemical databases to find compounds that could interact with specific biological targets linked to the condition. The project earned Ahsan a place as one of 30 national finalists in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, a major science and engineering competition for American middle school students run by Society for Science. Frontotemporal dementia is a group of brain disorders that mainly affect the frontal and temporal parts of the brain. The condition can cause changes in behaviour, language, and the ability to plan and make decisions. Effective treatments that can slow or change the course of the disease remain limited, leading researchers to explore new ways to discover drugs.High-throughput virt...