NEW YORK – Although the research was complex, the goal for one Long Island teenager was simple – to help treat patients with lung cancer.

Seventeen-year-old Blake Smith, an Oceanside High School senior, received $15,000 in scholarship money and high honors after Smith, along with his teammate, came in fourth place in the Siemens research competition.

“We basically repurposed FDA-approved anti-psychotic drugs and made them more anti-cancer, basically. So, we collaborated with chemists who made derivatives that can be used, basically, to treat this subset of lung cancer,” Smith told WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall.

Smith hopes to be excepted into the University of Pennsylvania.

His teammate is also a local boy, 16-year-old Vickram Gidwani, a junior at Horace Mann High School in the Bronx.

Cited from:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/12/06/long-island-student-gets-natl-award-for-lung-cancer-research/