Meredith Paloma Lehmann
California
La Jolla High School
Meredith Paloma Lehmann, 16, of La Jolla, questioned the prevailing understanding of the spread of epidemics for her Intel Science
Talent Search submission in medicine and health. Her results challenged the conventional wisdom that says modern epidemics spread
most readily through large hub airports near population centers. Meredith created a simulation model that incorporated a second travel
mode for infected travelers: long distance auto trips. In the U.S., these car trips are five times more numerous than those by air and,
as in the classic “six degrees of separation” social experiment. Meredith concluded that any susceptible individual might be no more than
a few long car trips away from an infected person. Her findings imply that auto travel may contribute more to the spread of epidemic
disease than air travel in the continental U.S. This is her fourth project modeling epidemics. When not busy with her studies at La
Jolla High School, she works part time as a math tutor and babysitter. The daughter of Bruce and Irene Lehmann, Meredith earned a
perfect score on her SATs and has been a Young Epidemiology Scholar National Delegate. She is a highly skilled cellist who has played
in numerous community orchestras.
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