Ashrita, an Indian-American teenage researcher, activist, and speaker, has been actively involved in STEM since the 6th grade, participating in events such as eCYBERMISSION, Science Fair, and Technology Student Association events. Her passion for science continued to flourish during her high school years.

During her freshman year at TJHSST, Ashrita made significant strides in the field of medical technology. She developed an Ocular Disease Diagnosis AI Model named A-Eye as part of the MIT Medlytics program. Collaborating with fellow STEM enthusiasts, she played a key role in creating DEEPSEAS, a real-time AI surveillance system designed for marine protected areas, incorporating both hardware and software components. Her collaboration extended to working with Cambridge-area physicians and experts to develop models for diabetes detection, identification of irregular sleep cycles, and detection of lesions in bodily tissues.

As a sophomore, Ashrita demonstrated her innovation in the field of reproductive health. She created LetoHealth, a web tool that utilizes AI/CNNs as an accessible and cost-effective method for evaluating the viability of embryos based on factors such as embryo morphology, quality, and implantation potential. Her exceptional work earned first place in the microbiology category at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair in 2023.

As a junior, she continued to push boundaries by exploring how quercetin, a natural flavonoid, can mitigate neurotoxicity caused by vincristine and enhance its therapeutic effect on human acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells, showcasing her passion for scientific discovery and its potential to impact human health. Her exceptional research on quercetin and vincristine earned her another first-place win at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair in 2024.