LUCAS DAMIN DOS SANTOS

Trabalho de Inglês

GUARUJÁ, SP
2023
Jack Andraka

Trabalho apresentado à disciplina de Inglês,

Professora Miria Souza, turma da 2ª série A,
Ensino Médio, período da manhã.

GUARUJÁ, SP
2023
SUMMARY

Who is Jack Andraka? 1

Early life of Jack Andraka 2
What are his contributions? 3
What can we learn from Jack Andraka? 4
Conclusion 5
Bibliographic Citations 6
 1
Who is Jack Andraka?

Jack Thomas Andraka is an inventor, scientist and researcher born at the

region of Crownsville, in January 8, 1997. With the age of 15, he won the 2012
edition of the Gordon E. Moore Awards, the largest at the Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair. The sophomore student was awarded $70,000
and named in honor of the co-founder of Intel Corporation for his work in
developing a inexpensive, rapid, and new method for detecting a increase of
proteins that indicates the presence of ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancers
during early stages when there is still a high survival rate when compared to the
current treatments.

2
Early life of Jack Andraka

Jack Andraka was born in the region of Crownsville, Maryland, USA.

Many reasons inspired him to work with pancreatic cancer, including the death
of a family friend who he describes to be almost like an uncle. He told several of
these stories at the TEDxNijmegen conference in 2013. Searching for answers,
he discovered that the reason for the low survival rate for this type of disease
was the lack of an early, fast and cheap detection method. According to him, his
youthful optimism made him fearless, which led him to look for the "teenagers'
two best friends: "Google and Wikipedia", but also counting on the help of
YouTube content. He began thinking about various ways to detect and prevent
the growth of cancer and stop its growth before the cells become invasive.
 3

What are his contributions?

In an interview with the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), Jack

said that the idea for the pancreatic cancer test came up at school, while his
biology teacher was explaining about the antibodies. At that time, he was
reading an article about analysis methods using carbon nanotubes, which was
also fundamental for the development of his project. But however, it was not
easy to find someone who would accept his proposal. He contacted 200
teachers, of which 199 of them rejected it. Only Dr. Anirban Maitra, professor of
Pathology, Oncology, and Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, accepted the project. With promising results, he
received several awards such as the Gordon E. Moore award in 2012, gaining
international fame. He was also named on Advocate magazine's 2014 list of
Most Inspiring People Under 40, and as well as earning membership as a
National Geographic Explorer.

What can we learn from Jack Andraka?

Jack says that “failure is one of the best things you can do in science” What are
some other situations where failing might be a positive thing?

Here are some instructions from Andraka’s laboratory skills for your own
innovative pursuit:

• 1 – Be persistent. Or stubborn. “I’m incredibly stubborn. For anyone who

wants to really innovate, you’re going to be told no, and you have to just
keep pushing.”
 • 2 – Embrace failure. It's not only part of the process— but most of the
process. Anticipate it and then briskly push it aside to keep moving
forward.

• 3 – Like failure, patience is part of the process, too. “Keep pushing,” he

says, “because it only takes one time to make a breakthrough.”

• 4 – Learn how to communicate. How did this young scientist deliver his
first TED talk as a teen? He simply taught himself how to speak. Since
he was 6 years old, he was giving presentations and observing TED
talks.

⦁ 5 – Success doesn’t discriminate. To any people who tell themselves

they’re too young, too old, too much this or not enough, Andraka
emphatically tosses aside the feeling of self-doubt. “It doesn’t matter
what you look like, or your age or gender, it’s just your ideas that count.”

Conclusion

Jack Andraka is a remarkable individual whose story serves as an

inspiring example of youthful determination and innovation. He gained fame for
developing a groundbreaking method to detect pancreatic cancer at a very early
stage, which is a critical advancement in the field of medical diagnostics. His
success is not only a testament to his scientific understanding, but also his
perseverance, as he faced numerous obstacles and rejections before achieving
his breakthrough.
His journey underscores the importance of nurturing young talents and
providing the right opportunities for them to pursue their passions. Jack Andraka
serves as an inspiration to aspiring scientists and inventors, reminding us that
age is not a barrier to making significant contributions to science, technology
and society's welfare. His story highlights the potential for innovation and
discovery, driven by curiosity and a desire to make the world a better place to
live.

Bibliographic Citations

SITES:
⦁ 1– https://aventurasnahistoria.uol.com.br/noticias/reportagem/conheca-
historia-de-jack-andraka-o-jovem-que-inventou-um-sistema-para-detectar-
cancer.phtml

⦁ 2– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Andraka

⦁ 3– https://inspiremykids.com/jack-andraka-master-inventor-
innovator-15-years-old/