Mason Brannon, a senior at Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs, wears a lot of hats. Aside from having a 97.8 grade point average, he recently started a Riverwood chapter of the Science National Honor Society and maintains a biochemistry research internship at Emory University in DeKalb County.

“A couple of times a week, I work with the protein amyloid in the brain, which is linked to Alzheimer’s [disease],” said the 17-year-old son of Canty and Steve Brannon of Sandy Springs. Brannon said the research is designed to determine whether or not a person can be predisposed to the disease.

This love for science is what prompted Brannon to start the society at the high school.

“Being an IB [International Baccalaureate] school, we’re more focused on social studies,” he said. “We’re trying to get science a little more incorporated into the community.”

Part of this incorporation will include going to local elementary schools and performing science experimentations and demonstrations for students.

Currently, the society has 55 members. Members have to have made As in all science classes and taken at least one honors and one Advanced Placement science class, according to Brannon.

Brannon is secretary of the society and the Teenage Republicans Club. He also is a member of Model United Nations.