When Matthew Herper of Forbes called for nominations of young scientists to be part of the annual Forbes list of 30 Under 30, "no name came up more than that of Jack Andraka, the 16-year-old [now 17] who created a prototype cancer diagnostic test and won the top $75,000 prize at Intel’s annual high school science fair," Herper writes.
Herper wasn't surprised. He notes that "for two years, Andraka has been everywhere." That includes 60 Minutes, ABC World News Tonight, and even Forbes. "He was honored as a “Champion of Change” at the White House and was Michelle Obama’s guest during the 2013 State of the Union Address," Herper writes. "He has given many TEDx talks, the most prominent of which has generated more than 1 million views. These presentations have consistently portrayed Andraka’s achievements as Earth-shaking. A Forbes article, for instance, described the test as a “breakthrough.” Smithsonian called him “The Teen Prodigy Of Pancreatic Cancer.”
Despite all that, Herper did not put him on the list.
The reason for all the coverage of Andraka was that he had developed a test for a protein related to pancreatic cancer. He claimed the test was far faster, cheaper, and sensitive than conventional tests. Early detection of pancreatic cancer could potentially save many, many lives. And the test could be used to detect other kinds of cancer, too.
An expert panel assembled by Forbes to recommends scientist for the 30 Under 30 list said Andraka should be on it.
So what was Herper's problem?
Andraka's work hadn't yet been published. "It is by published work that scientists are judged," he writes. Andraka volunteered to share a draft of the paper he plans to submit to a journal, and Herper writes that when he saw it, "my concerns deepened."
I'll leave it to Herper to detail his investigation. This is an excellent example of challenging something that everybody knows to be true–Andraka has revolutionized the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer!–to discover the real truth.
Sometimes what matters most is to ask the right question. And in this case, Herper was the one to do it.
-Paul Raeburn
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