Jack Andraka is a 15 year old who may have come up with a new test that will revolutionize medicine. He has devised a way to test for early pancreatic cancer using a simple, quick, inexpensive dip stick method that detects the protein mesothelin that is a marker for pancreatic cancer. His test can also be used to detect early lung and ovarian cancer.
Jack Andraka first captured attention when he won the Gordon E. Moore award given by Intel for innovative technology. His work was completed in part after he received lab space and assistance from Johns Hopkins Hospital and Dr. Anirban Maitra. Maitra’s lab was the only one of 200 research labs and institutions that was willing to mentor Andraka while he worked on his project after school and on weeekends and holidays.
Since his award he has made the rounds of the science community including attending the FutureMed conference and being invited to the State of the Union by President Barack Obama.
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