Blind Brook High Student Recognized for Research on Cancer Treatment

Blind Brook High School senior Jack Broitman was recently awarded the Acorda Scientific Excellence Award for his research work at the Dadachova Lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Broitman, 17, enrolled in an honors science research course in his sophomore year of high school, which pointed him in the direction of applying to work at a research lab. After sending out over 50 emails, Broitman received an opportunity to work at the Dadachova Lab.

“My interest in science goes back to eight years ago,” said Broitman.

Broitman developed an interest in immunology when his mother’s twin sister was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer and she participated in an experimental immune treatment to save her sister’s life.

During his work at the lab, the Blind Brook High School senior assisted in researching radioimmunotherapy, an experimental treatment for cancer and infectious diseases that uses monoclonal antibodies as vehicles for delivering radioactive particles to affected cells. In his research, Jack found that using these antibodies to deliver alpha radiation to cells proved to be more effective at killing cells than alpha particles delivered by an external beam.

College followed by medical school lie in Broitman’s future. He says his first choice is Yale University for his undergraduate career.

“I hope to stay in contact with the Dadachova lab,” Broitman said. “I’m really grateful for the time they’ve spent with me.”

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