Jack Andraka, 16, is the most recent grand prize winner of the Intel international science and engineering fair – where he unveiled an inexpensive way to detect pancreatic cancer.
At the age of 14, the Maryland boy investigated the disease after it had killed a close family friend, and found that it spreads rapidly and is rarely detected in its early stages. It is estimated to be the 13th most common cancer in the world and the eighth most deadly.
To try to fill the void of low-cost, quick, early-screening methods, Andraka emailed professors at nearby research institutions with a proposal and budget for research. Andraka said he contacted 200 researchers and one accepted the offer – Dr Anirban Maitra, professor of pathology and oncology at Johns Hopkins University. With Maitra, Andraka conducted research and devised his prize-winning, inexpensive diagnostic method that can efficiently detect a protein for the cancer with 90% accuracy.
“This was a big accomplishment for me. It fulfilled my biggest and wildest dreams,” Andraka told the Baltimore Sun.
“But also, it means that I can actually get the word out about this deadly disease and this new test that I use to detect it.”
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