Devices & Diagnostics, Diagnostics

Jack Andraka talks innovation, open access & life as a teen scientist on Colbert Report

In the midst of the health insurance exchange meltdown, it was nice to see late […]

In the midst of the health insurance exchange meltdown, it was nice to see late night TV take a break from criticizing Obamacare news to give healthcare some positive attention last night.

This time it was 16-year-old Jack Andraka who sat down with Stephen Colbert to talk about the test Andraka developed for pancreatic cancer. The winner of last year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair developed an antibody test in his garage and in a lab at Johns Hopkins University. Since winning the fair, he’s become quite the healthcare celebrity, most recently becoming an advocate for open access to scientific research. Meanwhile, he’s shopping the pancreatic cancer test around to pharmaceutical companies.

But when Colbert inquired about his social life, Andraka insisted he’s no crazy scientist. “I’m not like that weird kid who just spends all of his time at the lab,” he said, after admitting that he sometimes does spend the night in the lab. That’s dedication.

On that note, Andraka’s inspiring story was featured on a 60 minutes segment a few weeks ago.

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