Jack Andraka

Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World Jack Andraka

Jacket Description/Back: Jack wouldn't give up. After a dear family friend died of pancreatic cancer, Jack Andraka decided to create a better method of early detection. It took two hundred letters before Jack found lab space to pursue his idea and months of work to make it a reality, but in the end, he did it. Jack's early-detection test for pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers has the potential to be over four hundred times more effective than the medical standard and cost only three cents. Jack was fifteen at the time. Jack's story is not just one of dizzying international success; it is a story of overcoming depression and homophobic bullying and finding the resilience to persevere and come out. His account inspires young people, who he argues are the most innovative, to fight for the right to be taken seriously and to pursue their own dreams. With hands-on science experiments included, Jack's memoir empowers his generation with the knowledge that we can each change the world if we only have the courage to try. Publisher Marketing: For the first time, teen innovator and scientist Jack Andraka tells the story behind his revolutionary discovery. When a dear family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer, Jack was inspired to create a better method of early detection. At the age of fifteen, he garnered international attention for his breakthrough: a four-cent strip of paper capable of detecting pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers four hundred times more effectively than the previous standard. Jack's story is not just a story of dizzying international success; it is a story of overcoming depression and homophobic bullying and finding the resilience to persevere and come out. His account inspires young people, who he argues are the most innovative, to fight for the right to be taken seriously and to pursue our own dreams. Do-it-yourself science experiments are included in each chapter, making Breakthrough perfect for STEM curriculum. But above all, Jack's memoir empowers his generation with the knowledge that we can each change the world if we only have the courage to try.

Contributor Bio:  Andraka, Jack Jack Andraka was just a fifteen-year-old Maryland high school student when he invented an inexpensive early-detection test for pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers. Now, at eighteen, he has already won the 2012 Intel ISEF Gordon E. Moore Award, the 2012 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Youth Achievement Award, first place in the 2014 Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, and the 2014 Jefferson Award. He speaks to audiences across the globe about his personal story, his research, LGBT issues, and his ideas for STEM education reform. He has been featured in several documentaries, including Morgan Spurlock's You Don't Know Jack, as well as countless radio, newspaper, and magazine articles. Contributor Bio:  Lysiak, Matthew Matthew Lysiak is a nationally recognized journalist and a former reporter for the New York Daily News. He is also the author of Newtown: An American Tragedy and has appeared as a contributor on the Today show, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and countless other national and local media outlets to discuss his work.