Every summer, students will fill their time trying new activities. Some will play summer baseball, others will join the marching band. However, if you happen to be Cotter senior Sang-Hyuk Lee, your summer is filled with lab equipment and computer codes.

Lee spent months preparing for a two-week internship this past summer at private research firm in Chicago, Illinois. During his time in the windy city he developed a high-tech computer program designed to assist neurosurgeons and save lives.

Lee’s program took him two weeks of twelve-hour workdays to create, but the results were more than worth it. His program is designed to create three dimensional models of brain tumors from MRI scans of cancer patients. These three dimensional models are designed to assist doctors in prescribing treatment based off of tumor growth and shape.

But wait, there’s more. Lee’s program also can create a map of a single blood vessel in the brain. By strategically blocking the blood vessels that feed brain tumors, surgeons can reduce the overall size and mass of the tumor.

“At first, I hoped to make a working brain tumor detecting program as well as a program that an MD can use to see his or her patient’s blood vessels in the brain,” says Lee. “I ended up creating the working program. I still often contact the doctor who conducted this research to find (a) way to make 3D diagrams of blood vessels in the brain.”

While potentially the sweetest fruit of Lee’s labors, his MRI program is hardly the only item to fill his resume. Lee is a standout member of  Cotter’s distinguished math team, as well as a captain of the Cotter boys soccer team and member of the chess club and show choir.

Lee’s successes are noticed by his teachers, who have plenty of praise for the up-and-coming scientist.

“Lee is both amazingly smart and helpful”, says his differential equations teacher Mr. Haun. “He doesn’t have to do all the (good) he does, he chooses to.”

Lee’s two weeks of program development were certainly rigorous. ” I woke up, had breakfast, and went to the lab. There was a discussion time in the morning after I went to the lab… after the discussion time, I coded (the program) and debugged. That’s probably all I did.”

This challenging environment has only boosted Lee’s outlook on the sciences. When asked about a continuation of the project, he responded, “Absolutely, if time permits, I want to work more on blood vessels. Also, I want to import images of other parts of the body.”

Perhaps what is most amazing about what Lee has accomplished is that he was able to work with real medical professionals to create a tool that may one day be certified for use by surgeons around the country. He has certainly placed himself among an elite group of high school scholars, with his formidable skills in math, biology, and computer engineering.

Hopeful that this project is only the start of a career in the sciences, Lee has begun applications to a number of prestigious colleges and universities. “I am applying to Bio-medical Engineering (programs) at most schools… I want to pursue my studies specifically on image processing.”

Cotter senior Sang-Hyuk Lee has taken strides into the deep unknowns of the medical world.  With his myriad interests and great sense of humor, it is likely that Lee’s journey of discovery is just beginning.

If interested in exploring Lee’s research from both his summer internship and other projects, feel free to stop by his website, http://sanghyukleescienceresearch.com/. Here, Lee runs a blog about his scientific interests and goes further in depth about the workings of his projects. Check it out!