CHAPPAQUA, NY, TOP STUDENT TO BE HONORED ON CAPITOL HILL

***I know I want to cover mostly Mount Kisco events but this is truly inspiring and amazing…it’s one of our neighbors in Chappaqua ***

Local student Merry Sun, 16, was honored yesterday in Washington, D.C., where she was awarded a Davidson Fellows scholarship by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. Merry is one of only 20 students from across the nation to be recognized as a 2010 Davidson Fellow.

Merry received a $25,000 scholarship for her achievement in science: she studied therapeutic ultrasound’s potential in treating recurrent and metastatic cancers. She found that therapeutic ultrasound causes stress and light damage to tumor cells, which alerts the immune system to respond and target the tumor. Traditional therapies like radiation, chemotherapy, and surgical resection are ineffective in immune responses against tumor cells. Her results demonstrate the possibility of a novel, non-invasive, non-toxic cancer therapy that treats solid tumors as well as systemic metastases.

Davidson Fellows – Students under the age of 18 who submit an original piece of work recognized by experts in the field as significant, with the potential to make a positive contribution to society. The award categories are science, technology, mathematics, music, literature, philosophy and outside the box. (www.DavidsonGifted.org/Fellows).