FISHERS, Ind. -- A Fishers teenager is spending her summer at the IU Simon Cancer Center with a lofty goal -- trying to find a cure for kidney cancer.
Khunsha Ahmed has a mentorship that allows her to learn from oncologists and researchers at the cancer center.
Ahmed is the recipient of the Emperor Science Award, a PBS Learning Media and Stand Up To Cancer initiative.
"She is the only Hoosier who won this award," said Dr. Costantine Albany, an assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University. "This is from the whole nation, and she is doing her research here at Indiana University, so we are very happy to mentor her and teach her."
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The award is to encourage high school students to explore careers in science, focusing on cancer research and patient cure.
Her essay was about renal cell carcinoma, the disease she's trying to find a cure for. She's driven by medicine after volunteering at the VA Hospital for four years.
"That is where I kind of fell in love with the idea of helping people," Ahmed said. "So I'm not sure which field I want to go into, but I do know that I want to make an impact after talking with them and seeing the different ailments and everything -- with cancer being one of the biggest ones. I want to make an impact."
Ahmed works in a lab three days a week to get the real experience.
