July 18, 2018
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Rishab Jain, a student from Stoller Middle School in Beaverton, uses a reader board to help visualize his invention of using artificial intelligence software to potentially
improve the effectiveness of pancreatic cancer treatment. He is one of 10 finalists chosen across the nation to compete for the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” and
a prize of $25,000.
D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
A local middle school student
is poised to fight for the title of
“America’s Top Young Scientist”
for his innovative system of using
artificial intelligence software to
potentially improve the effective-
ness of pancreatic cancer treat-
ment.
Rishab Jain, a soon-to-be eighth
grader at Stoller Middle School in
Beaverton, was one of 10 finalists
chosen throughout the nation for
3M and Discovery Education’s
Young Scientist Challenge, it was
announced last month. The annual
competition challenges students
grades 5-8 across the nation to
by
by
Inspired Science
Young inventor competes for top prize
use scientific thinking to create
innovations that improve their
communities locally and abroad.
In October, he and nine others will
compete for a $25,000 grand prize
in St. Paul, Minn. He’s also men-
toring with a 3M scientist over the
summer to help bring his vision to
life.
The competition involved con-
testants submitting a YouTube
video of their proposals, which
Jain said immediately drew him
in, since making technology-based
videos for the web is one of his
many hobbies.
Last summer Jain familiarized
himself with artificial intelligence
programs like Python and MAT-
LAB. When he learned about the
low survival rate of pancreatic
cancer patients over that same
summer, he wondered if there was
a way to combine the two inter-
ests.
“Currently to treat the disease,
doctors use MRI-guided radio-
therapy. This is where radiation
is directly targeted onto a tumor
to help reduce the size and kill it
off,” Jain explained.
But due to differences in pa-
tients’ body structures, and bodi-
ly movements like breathing, the
pancreas can move mid-treatment.
“And then the radiation can
have negative effects on the body.
So that’s a major problem. I want-
ed to try to solve that,” he added.
If this new tool is used, the ra-
dio therapy can follow the pancre-
as as it moves, in real time. Not
only could this make the treatment
of the cancer more effective, it
also avoids accidentally pump-
ing healthy organs with radiation,
which should increase a patients’
overall chances of surviving.
Jain’s mother, Manisha Jain,
who is a realtor and originally
c ontinueD on p age 16