Marshall Zhang, 16, recently won first prize in a national science competition for discovering a new drug combination that appears to have big potential in the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Employing a supercomputer known as SciNet, the Bayview Secondary School student was able to create models and examine how drugs worked on a molecular level. He was then able to hypothesize that two particular drugs would be more effective when combined, a result he confirmed in the lab.
“The experiment actually worked better than I had predicted,” he said. “That was really exciting. I was just blown away, amazed at how lucky I was to have been able to get that result.”
It was Zhang’s first-ever experiment. Eager to get real-world experience, he had compiled a list of University of Toronto professors and started contacting them to see if he could volunteer in their labs. He got down to the last two names on his list, and Dr. Christine Bear was one of them. Shortly thereafter, he learned about the national science competition.
Bear, a researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children who has studied cystic fibrosis for the last 20 years, served as Zhang’s mentor. She will have him back at her lab this summer as his findings are tested further.
“It’s a real credit to him and his school that he was able to do this,” she said.
Bear believes the results have significant implications for drug discoveries. Although Zhang’s approach isn’t new, he demonstrated that it could be successfully applied to cystic fibrosis. Her lab plans to test other drug combinations using this approach.
Cystic fibrosis is a fatal genetic disease that mainly affects the lungs and digestive system. Since Zhang made the discovery, he has gotten to know the disease from a more personal perspective, with sufferers and friends and family of sufferers reaching out to him on Facebook and Twitter. “It was pretty moving to hear all the stories that they had to share,” he said.
For Maureen Adamson, CEO of Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Zhang’s discovery is exciting.
“He’s clearly a remarkable young man,” she said. “I think it brings a lot of renewed hope for cystic fibrosis."