Terre Haute Student Named Top Junior Innovator

Nilufer Akgul of Honey Creek Middle School earned national recognition for her research on healthcare access disparities.

Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Secondary Education

Terre Haute Student Named Top Junior Innovator

Live Poll

Do you believe emergency healthcare services are distributed fairly in your area?

Honey Creek Middle School student Nilufer Akgul was named a Top 300 Junior Innovator in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. Her research project mapped emergency facility accessibility across two Indiana counties.

Why it matters

The project sheds light on significant healthcare access gaps by comparing distances to emergency care for low-income versus high-income neighborhoods. This work was inspired by Akgul’s own experience living in a rural area far from medical facilities.

Akgul’s research identified five underserved areas impacting 83,000 residents after analyzing 98 emergency facilities across 39 ZIP codes. The study found low-income neighborhoods average 4.2 miles to a hospital and 7.8 miles to urgent care.

The players

Nilufer Akgul

She is a middle school student at Honey Creek Middle School who earned national recognition for her research.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge

It is a national science competition for students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

Honey Creek Middle School

It is a middle school located in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The details

The analysis, which utilized data from Indiana.gov and the U.S. Census Bureau, found that high-income areas are located significantly closer to emergency services at 2.1 miles and 1.3 miles respectively. To compete, Akgul was required to rank in the top 10 percent at an affiliated local science fair before completing the national application.

Nilufer Akgul was named a Top 300 Junior Innovator on October 21, 2026.

Culture Shift

The project follows a pattern set by the U.S. Census Bureau's data on social determinants of health by quantifying the relationship between geographic location and health access. This reflects a growing societal trend of student-led advocacy using public data to highlight regional disparities.

This research provides a data-driven look at how distance to medical care impacts thousands of Indiana residents across local counties. The findings highlight the practical difficulties families in underserved areas face when accessing emergency medical services.

The takeaway

This project highlights how students can use public government data to identify critical regional health disparities. It serves as a reminder of the role that local research plays in bringing attention to underserved communities.