Ashok Chandran

NEW YORK

Ashok Chandran, 17, of Nesconset, submitted a medicine and health project to the Intel Science Talent Search studying the relationship between nicotine and specific cellular functions in mammary cells. Based on prior research that found that adolescent female smokers are 80 percent more likely to develop breast cancer by age 50 than non-smoking females, Ashok's work builds on speculation that teenage girls typically start smoking when their mammary tissue is most susceptible to damage. Ashok's research explored the possibility that nicotine may be linked to human breast cancer by facilitating or speeding the development of malignant processes. Specifically, he tested the hypothesis that nicotine would alter mammary cell gene expression and create a cellular environment more akin to that of a breast cancer cell. His work also suggests that nicotine increases abnormal cell growth and that chemotherapeutic drugs are less effective on nicotine-treated cells. The son of Prem and Latha Chandran, Ashok attends Smithtown High School East in St. James, where he plays varsity tennis. Ashok has perfect scores on his SATs and hopes to attend Princeton or Columbia.