The iResearch Institute

Meet the Founder

Serena McCalla, Ph.D.

Founder of iResearch Institute and iResearch Foundation
President of the New York State Science & Engineering Fair (NYSSEF)
Lead Educator in National Geographic’s Emmy-Winning Documentary "Science Fair" and Disney+ /Hulu's "Science Fair: the Series"
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Serena McCalla, Ph.D., has been called the nation's “godmother of science research.” She single-handedly transformed New York’s Jericho High School science research program into one of the top science research programs in the world. While working with Jericho HS and iResearch Corporation students she has producing a record-breaking semifinalists/scholars and 17 finalists in the prestigious Intel/Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) and over 80+ International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) finalists over the past 15 years (on average she supports and sends 5+ students annually) with 4 students earning a top 10 position in the last 4 years.

An example of a single year of her high school research program, out of 12 students, there were:

6 Intel ISEF Finalists (top 1800 of 7 million+ internationally)
2 Intel ISEF 1st Place in Category
9 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Semifinalists (top 300 nationally)
2 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Finalists (top 40 nationally)
5 MIT Acceptances
4 Stanford Acceptances
3 Columbia Acceptances
1 Harvard Acceptance
1 Yale Acceptance
1 Princeton Acceptance

For her rigorous curriculum, Dr. McCalla has been a 4-time recipient of the US Presidential Scholar Teaching Award.

Dr. McCalla is a lead character of the National Geographic Documentary “Science Fair”, which won the 2019 National Academy Emmy Award for Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary and the 2018 Festival Favorite Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Dr. McCalla is the only educator in the documentary and again appeared in the 2023 Disney+/Hulu/National Geographic series -
"Science Fair: the Series”.

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Dr. McCalla received the Wayfinder Award in June 2023, becoming a National Geographic Explorer. She is the President of the New York State Science & Engineering Fair (NYSSEF).

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Dr. McCalla's pedagogy has resulted in a community of scientists who support next-generation scientists. Her winning practices and students have an unparalleled track record of success in high-stakes international and national competitions. For her rigorous curriculum, Dr. McCalla has been named a 4-time recipient of the US Presidential Scholar Teaching Award and has an honorary planet named serenamccalla from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

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‍She will train and support all students who participate in the iResearch Institute this summer. Click here to learn more about her story.

Alumni

Matthew Chun

Siemens Semifinalist (2014), Intel STS finalist (2014); ISEF Finalist (2013 & 2014) MIT; Rhodes Scholar, Oxford Ph.D., Harvard J.D.

David Zhao

UPenn Wharton; Serial entrepreneur (worth $25M at age 24)

Archana Verma

Stanford University; ISEF Finalist (2016, 2017), Regeneron STS Finalist (2017, 5th Place), JSHS National Delegate (2016)

Jackie Balestrieri

Barnard University, Class of 2024; Siemens Competition Semifinalist (2017), ISEF Finalist (2018)

Ien Li

Princeton University; Regeneron STS Finalist (2015), Siemens Competition Semifinalist (2013)

Elizabeth Ruggiero

Princeton University, Class of 2024

Sagar Rambhia

UCLA EyeMBA and MD; ISEF Finalist (2011), Intel STS Semifinalist (2011), ISWEEP Gold Medal (2011)

Amber Patrick

Stanford University; Regeneron STS Scholar (2018), JSHS Regional Semifinalist (2018)