Calgary student, 16, takes top research prize for possible cancer therapy advance

OTTAWA – A 16-year-old Alberta high school student has taken top prize in this year’s Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada contest with his research into an experimental therapy that uses nanoparticles to kill cancer cells.

Arjun Nair, a Grade 11 student at Webber Academy in Calgary, was awarded the $5,000 honour Tuesday by a panel of Canadian scientists at the National Research Council’s headquarters in Ottawa.

Nair’s project represents an advance in photothermal therapy, which involves injecting a patient with gold nanoparticles. The particles accumulate in tumours, forming so-called “nanobullets” that can be heated to kill cancer cells.

Working with mentors at the University of Calgary, he showed how an antibiotic may overcome defences that cancer mounts against the therapy.

Judges described his research as being of “world class masters- or PhD-level quality,” and also awarded it a special $1,000 prize as the project with the greatest commercial potential. A full project description can be seen online at http://bit.ly/12i4QIP.

“I’ve entered science competitions since Grade 5,” Nair said in a statement. “I really enjoy taking my ideas and making them happen in real life.”

Nair, who also enjoys debating, sports and volunteer work, said he hopes to continue doing science in university, and perhaps pursuing a career in medical research.

Eleven students from nine Canadian regions, aged 16 to 18, took part in the national finals. They had placed first at earlier regional BioGENEius competitions, which involved more than 200 students collaborating on 123 projects, all mentored in professional labs over several months.

Since 1994, about 4,500 young Canadians have competed in the BioGENEius challenge, which has inspired sister competitions in the United States and Australia.

The other winners are:

—Selin Jessa, 17, Grade 12, Dr. Charles Best Secondary School, Coquitlam, B.C., won the $4,000 2nd place prize for research into how genetic mutations naturally help some HIV patients escape symptoms.

—Eunice Linh You, 17, Grade 11, Laval Liberty High School, Laval, Que., who investigated how to tailor stem cell treatments for Parkinson’s disease.

—Lauren Chan, 17, Grade 12, University of Toronto Schools, who described a potential new therapy to reduce the severity of diabetes.

—Daniel Huang, 16, Grade 11, St. John’s Ravenscourt School, Winnipeg, who discovered a potential new tactic to fight the world’s deadliest brain cancer.

Honourable mentions, $500:

—Jared Trask, 18, and Kaitlyn Stockley, 17, Grade 12, Holy Spirit High School, Conception Bay West, NL., who for the second consecutive year won the Atlantic region competition by proving novel ideas for creating biofuels.

—Adamo Young, 16, Grade 11, Lisgar Collegiate Institute, Ottawa, who found that altering its nitrogen supply appears to tame a toxic fungus that ruins billions worth of grain worldwide.

—Melanie Grondin, 17, Shawn Liu, 18, Vincent Massey Secondary School, Windsor, Ont., who found a marker in medicine’s quest for the holy grail of leukemia treatments — limitless supplies of healthy stem cells.

—Saruul Uuganbayar, 17, Grade 12, Centennial Collegiate, Saskatoon, who invented a molecular therapy for mutated cells with the dream of curing cancer.

Nair and runner-up Jessa will compete for Canada at the International BioGENEius Challenge, April 22-23 at the annual BIO conference in Chicago.