Patch Whiz Kid of the Week: Shannon Harrington, 18

School: Somerville High School

Accomplishments: Harrington’s neuroscience project won a top award at the regional science fair on Saturday, qualifying her for the state science fair. She was also recently accepted to work full time in a laboratory at Boston University over the summer, which counts as her first job.

How she got there: Harrington calculated that since September, she has worked approximately 144 hours on her project, for which she compared differentiated stem cells to nerve cells. “This is on one [project],” she said. “And I’ve done this for three years. But if you really like it like I do, you won’t see doing this as a chore.”

She said that winning an award from the American Society of Microbiology at the regional fair put her effort into perspective. “It helped me to prove to myself that all that hard work really did pay off, that those three months of lab work were worth it,” she said.

Harrington qualified for the state science fair the last two years, too. Since the summer after her freshman year she has done independent research and conducted her science fair projects at biotechnology giant Biogen Idec’s Cambridge Community Lab. Her projects have always concentrated on cells, and she plans to study molecular and cellular biology in college.

The science fair has served as a sort of part-time job for Harrington, but after graduation, she’ll work full-time with a team of biologists and engineers on a project that they’ll present at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition.

“I was so set on enjoying the summer and relaxing before my first year in college, but then I jumped at this, and I’m going to do it because it’s a great opportunity,” she said.

Harrington said working on the team would sharpen her science skills. “I’ve never had a job before, so this is a great intro into the workforce and working in a science-based field.”