Gitanjali Rao

2020 TIME Top Young Innovator
2019 Forbes 30 Under 30
2018 EPA Presidential Award
2017 Discovery 3M Young Scientist Challenge Winnerker Award for Basic Medical Research

When 7th grader Gitanjali Rao heard about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, she was inspired to help and dove right into research. She designed a compact device called “Tethys” to detect lead in drinking water with the aid of a mobile app. In 2017, she was named “America’s Top Young Scientist” and was awarded the $25,000 top prize from Discovery at the 3M Young Scientist Challenge. She was named in the Forbes 2019 “30 Under 30” list of breakthrough scientists, received the TCS Ignite Innovation Student Challenge Top “Health” Pillar Prize for a solution to diagnose prescription opioid addiction at an early stage, and was awarded a grant by the National Science Teaching Association to implement an anti-cyberbullying solution. In addition, she is a subject of the Marvel Hero Series on Disney+ that highlights young leaders who make a difference in our communities. Ms. Rao was a Delegate to the 2019 Congress of Future Medical Leaders.