Don't call Lanair Lett a "whiz kid." He thinks it's dedication that could bring him national attention next month.

"My grandmother always told me that talent is ten percent and everything else is hard work," the 17 year-old said with a big grin on his face. "I think I'm more of a testament to that than being a whiz kid."

The senior at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics recently received the highest honors at the Region Six Finals of the 2009 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. Lett won the "individual category," which carried a $3,000 college scholarship for his biochemistry project.

"Science has so much room for critical thinking," he said. "The journey to the answer is so interesting. You learn so much stuff along the way."

His research started last summer when a program called Project Seed accepted him. His mentors for this project were Leslie Brinson, a Biology Teacher at NCSSM, and Dr. Jeffery Tessem, at the Sarah W. Stedman Nutrition and Metabolism Center at Duke University.

"I'm measuring how certain genes affect Beta cell growth and Beta cells are the insulin-producing cells of the body and diabetes. One of the treatments that they take is insulin. So this definitely pertains to diabetes in that way," Lett said. "I changed how a certain gene was expressed and the Beta cells and Islets to see how it affected growth and tried to get them to grow more, basically."

"More cells equals more insulin, which is good for diabetics."

And this is where this story takes a personal turn. His mother and grandmother are fighting the disease. In June 2007 Lett learned he had it, too.

"If you have something - you want to know as much as you can," he said. "I learned so much more than any textbook could teach me when I was doing research about it."

The finals in New York City will run from December 3 to December 7. Winners from six regional competitions will compete for scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

"The hardest part about this competition isn't just explaining your research but answering to a panel of judges in a room all by yourself where you have to defend your work and what you know about it," Leslie Brinson said. "[Lanair is] himself. He's not trying to be all stuffy and formal. He talks from his heart and that really paid off."

Another North Carolina team also received top honors at the Regional Competition in Atlanta. Neil Shah and Katie Shpanskaya of Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina respectively, received the highest honors in their category.