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Loading...$100,000 Prize for 17-Year-Old Cancer Researcher
Sometimes amazing developments in cancer research come from state-of-the-art medical research facilities and sometimes they come from more unexpected places, like Cuba or a high school student. This week, the Siemens Foundation and George Washington University announced that 17-year old Angela Zhang won the $100,000 grand prize in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology for her innovative cancer research.
Angela Zhang is a senior at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California. She won the prize for her design of image-guided, photo-thermal controlled drug releasing multifunctional nanosystem for the treatment of cancer stem cells. Zhang has spent more than 1000 hours researching and developing her nanoparticle since 2009.
The Siemens Foundation announcement of the prize explains more about her work:
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are responsible for initiating and driving tumor growth yet are often resistant to current cancer therapies. In her research, Angela Zhang aimed to design a CSC-targeted, gold and iron oxide-based nanoparticle with a potential to eradicate these cells through a controlled delivery of the drug salinomycin to the site of the tumor. The multifunctional nanoparticle combines therapy and imaging into a single platform, with the gold and iron-oxide components allowing for both MRI and Photoacoustic imaging. This nanosystem could potentially help overcome cancer resistance, minimize undesirable side effects, and allow for real-time monitoring of treatment efficacy.
Zhang’s nanoparticle is being heralded as the “Swiss army knife of cancer treatment”, according to Dr. Tejal Desai, one of the competition’s judges.
In addition to Zhang’s individual prize, there was also a team prize of $100,000 given to Ziyuan Liu and Cassee Cain for their work on human walking patterns. Other finalist individuals and teams won scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 for work in mathematics, chemistry, biology, astrophysics, biochemistry, and bioengineering.
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Read more: cancer, cancer research, education, high school, scholarship, student
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Recent Comments from Causes
Piss off Pakistan and where would Obama Care get all of it’s outsourced doctors it’s going…
Killing is not the answer. This is really shameless. There other ways to deal with the situation.
GRAFT & CORRUPTION WILL ALWAYS BE THERE
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112 comments
+ add your ownAmazing and wonderful! This kid did it on her own. She comes across as a normal kid but what inspires her? She decided to undertake this on her own. Her own high school science teacher cannot understand the paper she wrote. It always takes looking at things in a different way and this young woman does. Hats off to her.
wow
Good work.
Amazing achievement by a High School student (and one that is local to me, score!). Imagine what she'll be able to do with full grant backing someday.
PARABÈNS por seu empenho e determinação! continue esse trabalho em beneficio de seus semelhantes.
Congrats!!! :)
Awesome. Congrats to Angela
Good job! Bravo! Congratulations! The more people we have working to eradicate that horrible disease the better. Who knows? We may be reading about the person that finally finds the cure. Hope springs eternal.
Amazing Bravo to our youth
Bravo,keep up the good work
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