Class of 2016

Blake Smith has worked in cell biology labs since he was 16, first at Mount Sinai  School of Medicine and now at Yale Medical School.

As a high school junior, he won first place in the category of Cellular and  Molecular Biology at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for  his research on a type of molecule that could help in the fight against  pancreatic cancer.

Over the course of two summers and almost 2,000 hours, Smith worked with  another high school student on a project that inhibited two highly-activated  pathways in the most common form of lung cancer. They created drugs that showed  a response to a resistant form of lung cancer in mice, with minimal side  effects.

He later published an article on his research, which was the first literature  published on the topic in a scientific journal. This  research earned 4th place at the Siemens Competition.

Smith is a writer for the Yale Scientific Magazine and is heavily involved in  the various Model United Nations organizations on campus.

He hopes to pursue a MD/PhD joint degree, work as a medical oncologist, and  continue his research on lung cancer throughout the way.

-Cited from:

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-impressive-students-at-yale-2013-4#blake-smith-has-done-extraordinary-cancer-research-25