Meet Boston's National STEM Champion who's a junior in high school studying gene therapy
BOSTON - Boston is home to a National STEM Champion, an eleventh-grader whose project revolved around gene therapy.
A student at Boston Latin School, Evan Ding may look like your average high school student. Outside school, he's a National STEM Champion and recipient of an $50,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute. Oh, he's an award-winning pianist as well.
Gene therapy project
WBZ-TV first met Ding in February, when he was surprised with the announcement that he was a winner of the National STEM Festival. His award-winning idea is based around gene therapy.
"Genetic diseases have been affecting millions of people in the United States alone, and gene therapy is a groundbreaking method that scientists use to treat this," said Ding.
One problem with gene therapy is it's irreversible. But that's also where Ding's idea has taken off.
"My idea centers around an on/off switch in gene therapy, to be triggered by a certain antibiotic," he said.
Ding is first targeting Rett Syndrome, a horrible brain disease that causes severe auditory sensitivity in kids.
"As a musician myself, (butted) I've been able to appreciate how important music is for the world. It's such an emotional feeling for me to be able to, you know, help them," said Ding.
Inspired by 9th grade biology project
This idea was actually born from a ninth grade biology project - Ding got Rett Syndrome to study. Now that project has turned into a patented idea being worked on with the help of Brigham and Women's Hospital.
When asked if he felt like a science rockstar, Ding replied, "In a way, yeah. It's a weird feeling, I would say, since I've never experienced this sort of thing before."
Submissions for the 2025 National STEM Festival are still open until Oct. 20.