At 13, a Texas student uses AI to study one of the deadliest brain cancers: says, ‘It started with curiosity’; aims to combine AI with biomedicine

At an age when most students are only beginning to encounter advanced biology, 13-year-old Myreen Ahsan was presenting brain cancer research to physicians and artificial intelligence experts. The Texas middle-school student has been exploring whether sophisticated AI and bioinformatics tools can help researchers better understand glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that remains notoriously difficult to treat. Her work has already taken her from a school science project to a major University of Texas research symposium.

Curiosity led her to brain cancer research

Myreen, a student at Friendswood Junior High, developed an interest in neuroscience after attending competitive neuroscience camps across the United States. The pieces came together when she encountered research about AlphaFold 3 and its potential role in drug discovery. “It felt like two worlds I was passionate about, AI and neuroscience, suddenly clicked together,” she told UTHealth Houston. Her project investigates RNA-based aptamers targeting EGFR-positive cells in glioblastoma. The Society for Science independently lists Myreen's project among its 2025 Top 300 Junior Innovators.

Despite having no formal training in the field, Myreen taught herself professional bioinformatics tools including HDOCK and PLIP by studying scientific papers, following tutorials and working with publicly available datasets. “It started with curiosity,” she said, explaining that she approached the research like a puzzle and continued learning until the concepts began making sense.

Her research reached a university AI symposium

Myreen's project won second place at the 2025 Texas Science and Engineering Fair. Soon afterwards, her abstract was selected for presentation at the 2025 UT System AI Symposium, where she found herself discussing her research alongside experienced scientists and medical professionals. Her reaction was understandable. Myreen said she had to read the acceptance email “three times” before believing it. UTHealth Houston professor Xiaoqian Jiang said he was “thoroughly impressed” by both her project and presentation, pointing to her understanding of AI in biomedical science despite her young age.

Why AI matters in glioblastoma research

Myreen is entering a field attracting serious scientific attention. The US National Institutes of Health has previously reported on researchers using machine learning and data from more than 6,300 glioblastoma patients across 71 sites to improve identification of tumour regions. More recent scientific reviews suggest AI could eventually assist with areas including tumour detection, molecular profiling and treatment planning. However, researchers caution that challenges around validation, data quality and real-world clinical implementation remain.

A 13-year-old with bigger plans

Brain cancer research is only part of Myreen's journey. She has competed successfully in robotics and is working towards an initiative called the AI-MED STEM Society, aimed at helping other students access AI and biomedical research opportunities. Her ambition is ultimately bigger than winning science competitions. “My dream is to be part of meaningful discoveries that help fill innovation gaps in medicine,” she said.

At 13, Myreen hasn't claimed to have solved glioblastoma. What she has demonstrated is arguably more interesting: sophisticated medical research is no longer necessarily confined to university laboratories and curiosity can sometimes give young scientists an unexpectedly early start.