Internship Helps High School Senior Rethink What Autism Diagnostics Should Do

Edward Kang's award-winning work on retinal imaging and neurodevelopmental conditions deepened through firsthand exposure to autism care at the Rutgers Brain Health Institute

When Edward Kang began his senior experience program at the Rutgers Center for Autism Research, Education and Services (RUCARES), a center within the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI), he was deeply involved with a research project of his own.

What the high school student found there gave his work a different kind of clarity.

A senior at Bergen County Academies, a technical high school in Hackensack, N.J., Kang will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall. He earned second place and a $175,000 award in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search in March, described by the Society for Science as the nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. His project, RetinaMind, used retinal images to train artificial intelligence models on subtle patterns linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while exploring gene changes through retinal cell models.

Kang, who is from Hackensack, N.J., said his experience at RUCARES gave him the opportunity to observe autism research and treatment in a real-world setting, connecting his technical work to the complexity of care.

I have had the privilege of connecting and conversing with professionals in the field, who have warmly shared their knowledge and excitement for their work. RUCARES has fueled and validated my love for neuroscience.

Edward Kang

"My volunteer internship at RUCARES continues to be a special honor," Kang said. "Since last fall, I have had the opportunity to actually see the autism treatment practices I had only read about in articles before. The combination of qualitative, human-driven therapies and quantitative data collection amazes me."

That perspective became especially important as his project evolved. What began as an attempt to improve an existing diagnostic model quickly expanded into a broader set of scientific questions.

"My project started back in 2023 when I came across a research paper that pioneered the use of retinal images to diagnose ASD," Kang said. "I began with the simple goal of trying to improve this existing model to be more accurate and powerful, but my project has grown into something far more complex."

The more he worked, the more Kang found himself asking not only how such a model performs, but what it may be capturing biologically and how it could be made more useful in practice.

He learned about the RUCARES internship program via a high school alum who had interned in the Severe Behavior Program the previous year and presented her work at Kang's high school. Kang worked at RUCARES once a week. The hours were logged and counted toward credit for a year-long course at his high school, called the Senior Experience.

At RUCARES, those questions took on added depth. Seeing autism treatment firsthand helped Kang think beyond detection alone and more carefully about what diagnostic tools should make possible for patients and families.

"Getting to see first-hand how personalized treatments can be gave me direction for my research project," Kang said, "helping me realize that future diagnostic tools for autism should aim to not only identify the disorder, but also distinguish between various subtypes of patients that could guide treatment."

That kind of thinking sits naturally within the work of RUCARES, where research, education and services are closely connected. As part of Rutgers Brain Health Institute, the center helps advance autism research while remaining attentive to diagnosis, treatment and support across the lifespan.

"High school volunteers gain experience in the data-based and individualized process of assessment and treatment for severe behavior disorders. They observe our clinicians presenting data during group supervision, learn to collect data alongside clinicians and they have opportunities to assist with applied research projects," said Craig W. Strohmeier, a licensed psychologist and behavior analyst at Children's Specialized Hospital - RUCARES Severe Behavior Program.

For Kang, one of the most meaningful parts of the experience was the chance to learn in that environment and from the people working in it.

"More than anything, though, I have had the privilege of connecting and conversing with professionals in the field, who have warmly shared their knowledge and excitement for their work," he said. "RUCARES has fueled and validated my love for neuroscience."

He also spoke candidly about what it means to stay with difficult questions long enough for better ones to emerge. "Throughout my two years working on this project, I have answered many of my initial curiosities," Kang said. "But the truth is, I have way more questions now than I started with. That can be frustrating to think about sometimes, but I believe true scientific spirit comes from tackling those questions head-on and loving every step of the process."

Presenting the work, he said, has often been the most rewarding part. "Over the last two years, I've often found myself working obsessively in the lab, staring into microscopes and spreadsheets," said Kang. "But presenting my work gives me perspective on what I'm doing and why I do it."

Those conversations have mattered most when they involved families affected by autism or ADHD. "I am always most grateful when I get to discuss my work with families affected by ASD or ADHD," he said. "The thought of making some contribution to their lives is my strongest motivation."