Centennial HS G/T Advanced Research Student Publishes Professional Paper

December 6th, 2023

*Centennial High School Senior William Gao.*

Students who participate in HCPSS’ Gifted and Talented (G/T) Advanced Research Program come away with a host of valuable skills and experiences, says Centennial High School (CHS) G/T Resource Teacher Toni Ireland.

“You learn how to be an effective researcher. You learn how to think critically. You build strong presentation skills. You learn how to give and receive constructive feedback. And you are in a class of student scholars who are passionate about the topics they’re researching,” notes Ireland.

For CHS senior William Gao, being in the Advanced Research Program also led to a unique distinction, particularly for a high school student: being the first author on a professional scientific paper.

*Gao presents his research as part of his G/T Independent Research class.*

Gao began his journey to that distinction as a freshman when he took G/T Independent Research and began his work on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to public health. As a sophomore, he took G/T Independent Research again and used the opportunity to delve deeper into the AI/public health connection.

“Breast cancer mortality rates tend to be higher in areas that have fewer resources, in part because there is a shortage of pathologists in those areas. It takes longer for people to get diagnosed, and that makes it more likely that their cancer isn’t treated until it’s reached a later stage,” Gao explains. “I wanted to investigate whether artificial intelligence could be used to help address these issues and improve survival rates, especially in resource-constrained regions.”

Gao points to the system he developed on a laptop. — *Gao developed an artificial intelligence-driven system to aid with cancer diagnosis.*

Mentored by a statistics professor at UMBC and a researcher at Meta Inc., Gao developed an artificial intelligence-driven, resource-efficient, mobile diagnostic system to identify cancerous regions in patient tumor samples. His hope is that it can be deployed to hospitals in remote areas, aiding diagnoses and improving diagnosis times.

In the spring of his junior year, Gao organized his findings into a paper, which he submitted to the international, peer-reviewed journal Cancer Informatics. And in November 2023, Gao’s article, “Designing a Deep Learning-Driven Resource-Efficient Diagnostic System for Metastatic Breast Cancer: Reducing Long Delays of Clinical Diagnosis and Improving Patient Survival in Developing Countries,” was published online.

Gao discusses his research with Centennial High School G/T resurce teacher Toni Ireland and a fellow student. — *Gao discusses his research with Centennial High School G/T resource teacher Toni Ireland and a fellow student.*

“I’ve learned so much in this process and in the [Advanced Research] program,” says Gao, who plans to study biomedical engineering and computer science after high school. “I know it will be helpful as I head to college next year.”

Learn more about the Advanced Research program and other students’ experiences in it online.