Students from Great Neck, Manhasset and Roslyn were three of the five first-place winners at the NSPC Health Science Competition at Long Island University May 30. 

They were among 300 Long Island students who participated by presenting projects in health science and medical research.

Christopher Lu of Great Neck North High School, Alessi Demir of Manhasset Secondary School and Feyi Rufai of Roslyn High School took first place, each earning $5,500.

This is the first year the competition was held. The Center for Science, Teaching and Learning managed it and Neurological Surgery P.C., a practice with six Long Island offices, was the title sponsor.

Students were challenged to test an innovation in health science, which they presented to judges at Long Island University’s Tilles Center.

The competition was the first of its kind, according to the creators.

“The young people who were part of this competition were brilliant and inspiring,” Neurological Surgery P.C.’s Dr. Michael Brisman said in a news release. “The students’ understanding of medicine and health related subjects was impressive.”

Each project was submitted in one of five categories.

Lu’s was in the bioengineering and computational biology category, Rufai’s was in the behavioral sciences category and Demir’s was in the “biology-medicine/health” category.

The purpose of the competition is to promote interest in both STEM and the health industry.

“We achieved a tremendous level of participation from high school students in the NSPC Health Science Competition,” said Ray Ann Havasy, the executive director of the Center for Science, Teaching and Learning, in the press release. “Competitions like this bring out the best in our students and they all worked very hard. This program is about the students and motivating them to embrace science and technology for their education and careers.”