Kevin Wu brought home a gold medal from the 37th International Biology Olympiad, placing a Bellevue student among the world's top-performing young biologists.

Wu, a sophomore at BASIS Independent Bellevue, represented the United States at the competition held July 12–19 in Vilnius, Lithuania, where student teams from 78 countries faced grueling practical and theoretical exams in molecular biology, biochemistry, animal physiology, and plant computational biology.

He was one of four Americans to earn gold, meaning he scored in the top 10 percent of all competitors worldwide, according to the Center for Excellence in Education, the nonprofit that selects and trains the U.S. team.

"These students honored our country at the IBO competition," Joann DiGennaro, president of CEE, said in the organization's July 20 announcement. "They are exceptional scholars headed for outstanding careers."

The path to Lithuania ran through Harvard University, where the USA Biolympiad National Finals were held in June. The USABO is the domestic qualifying competition for the international olympiad, and Wu earned a spot on the four-person team after winning national gold in both 2025 and 2026, according to the program's official roster.

Wu's official competitor bio offers a glimpse of what drives him outside the exam hall.

He developed an interest in biological systems years ago and has since worked through textbooks covering biochemistry and mycology. He logs nature observations on iNaturalist, where his count tops 5,000, and photographs his favorite moss, Plagiomnium insigne. On quieter days, he edits Wikipedia and reads the journal Cell.

The other three U.S. gold medalists were Emma Li of Lakeside School in Seattle, Suzuko Ohshima of Northwood High School in North Hollywood, California, and Kian Dhawan of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Li, a Mercer Island resident, gave Washington state two of the four spots on the national team.

BASIS Independent Bellevue is a K-12 private school on NE 4th Street in Bellevue.

The 38th International Biology Olympiad is scheduled for Warsaw, Poland, in 2027.