Byram Hills High School Samantha Schaevitz has won a 2023 Neuroscience Research Prize, recognized for her research into a potential new method for a more effective treatment for the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
The prize, from the American Academy of Neurology, comes with a $1,000 award and a trip to Boston to present her work at the academy’s annual meeting in Boston in April.
Samantha was excited to win the prize and to present her work in Boston.
“I have a personal connection to brain cancer, so the idea that this research could help even just one person beat the disease is more than I could have ever asked for,” said Samantha, whose young cousin, Ava, died of a glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
For her research, part of the Byram Hills three-year Authentic Science Research program, Samantha investigated the use of focused ultrasound with microbubbles as a method for improving brain cancer treatment by allowing therapeutic drugs to more easily pass through the blood-brain barrier, a protective layer for the brain.
Working in mice, she found that increasing ultrasonic pressure with the microbubbles demonstrated a noticeable increase in drug penetration deep into the cancerous tumor. With further investigation, this method of drug delivery could hold promising potential as a more effective brain cancer treatment.
Her work validated existing research into this minimally invasive method. It could transform cancer treatment by using lower doses of cancer drugs, which in turn would bring fewer unwanted side effects.
“It has tremendous promise for brain cancer treatments in the next 10 to 15 years,” Samantha said. “This could be a much more effective way to deliver drug treatment to the brain to increase the overall survival of brain cancer patients.”
Stephanie Greenwald, director of the Byram Hills Authentic Science Research program, praised her hard work. “Congratulations to Samantha for this award and for her dedication to developing a more effective method for treating the deadliest form of brain cancer,” she said.
For her research, Samantha was also recognized as a scholar in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search earlier this year, chosen as one of 300 students from nearly 2,000 applicants.
She plans to continue her research in college and hopes to become a neuro-oncologist.