Hauppauge High School senior Samvath Karanam is making an impressive mark in the fields of artificial intelligence and medical research after being selected as the recipient of SAAWA’s 2026 Emerging Technology Leadership Award.

Samvath recently traveled to Strasbourg, France, to participate in MICCAI 2026, a major international conference focused on medical imaging and artificial intelligence. His research paper, “Interpretable Missense Variant Effect Prediction via Sparse Feature Changes in ESM-2,” was accepted for the MI4MedFM (Mechanistic Interpretability for Medical Foundation Models) workshop, held in conjunction with the conference.

His research applies artificial intelligence to better understand the biological effects of genetic mutations, an area with significant implications for medical research. Adding to the significance of the accomplishment, Samvath was the only high school student participating in the conference, representing Hauppauge and Long Island on an international scientific stage.

Samvath’s research paper is available through MICCAI’s official open-access proceedings and is scheduled for publication as part of the Springer MICCAI 2026 Satellite Events proceedings.

His accomplishments also reflect his commitment to sharing his knowledge with others. Through his connection with SAAWA, Samvath has shared his expertise in emerging technologies with younger students participating in SAAWA STEM programs, helping inspire the next generation of students interested in science, technology, and innovation.

In recognition of his international research achievement, SAAWA will present Samvath with the SAAWA International Young Scientist Achievement Award, accompanied by a $1,000 award.

We congratulate Samvath on this remarkable accomplishment and are proud to see a Hauppauge High School student pursuing advanced research and representing our community on the international stage.