Meet Sai Sri Valli Mogilineedi, eighth-grader who designed controlled-release antacid

An eighth-grader from Pennsylvania has been named one of the top 30 middle school researchers in the United States after developing a new way to deliver medicines used to treat Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Sai Sri Valli Mogilineedi, a student at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, was named a national finalist in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge on 16 September 2026. The competition is organised by the non-profit Society for Science and is considered one of the leading US competitions for middle school students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).Mogilineedi’s project, titled "A Novel Controlled Release System for GERD Drugs Using Immobilization Techniques," looks at ways to improve how antacid medicines are released inside the body. Her research focuses on problems with common heartburn treatments by exploring controlled-release methods that could make the medicine work for longer.