RCDS senior Leon Zhou has achieved an impressive achievement: He will graduate from high school with three research papers published in major journals. 

In 2024-25, Leon completed Alzheimer’s research through an independent study with RCDS Math Department Chair Dr. Tia Gueye and co-mentor Dr. Xuan Luo. Earlier this fall, Leon’s paper was published in ACS Omega, an international peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society. Entitled Boron, Titanium, and Calcium Doped Graphene Monolayers for Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker Detection: A Density Functional Theory Study, the paper researches a promising candidate for highly sensitive biosensors for the early stage detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Leon was also invited to present his research at the ACS 2025 Fall Conference in Washington. DC.

His second paper, entitled The Market Potential and U.S. Entry Strategy for Youwei Group’s LED-Curing Coating Technology was published in Open Journal of Business and Management in October 2025. For two years, this research was conducted under the guidance of Columbia Business School’s R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing Dr. Noel Capon. Leon’s marketing research proposed a scalable, sustainability-driven commercialization strategy for introducing a novel industrial technology to the U.S. market. Leon was also accepted to present his findings at the Harvard Science Research Conference in October 2024.

During the summer of 2025, Leon was selected for and attended the Garcia Summer Scholars Research Program at Stony Brook University, where he and his team conducted intensive laboratory research on metal-functionalized partially reduced graphene oxide (pRGO) and its potential to hasten fibrinogen clot formation. The research abstract was accepted to the Materials Research Society (MRS) International Conference in December 2025.

With his Garcia research fellows, Leon co-authored his third paper, entitled Ethical and Environmental Blind Spots in the Global Semiconductor Supply Chain. This paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Ethics in Scientific and Technological Innovations (JESTI) on October 15.

Leon is a thoughtful, hardworking researcher who takes on complex problems with real curiosity and persistence. His work this year reflects not only strong technical skill but a genuine desire to make an impact, and he approaches every project with a level of maturity and focus well beyond his years.
– Jen Doran, Director of Science Research Program 

Read Leon’s papers online at the links below.

Boron, Titanium, and Calcium Doped Graphene Monolayers for Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker Detection: A Density Functional Theory Study (October, 2025)

The Market Potential and U.S. Entry Strategy for Youwei Group’s LED-Curing Coating Technology (November, 2025)