Jack Andraka in the lab. He began working on his experiments when he was 13 years old. |Image: LGBTQ Nation

Awesome story about an awesome kid.

Meet Jack Andraka, a 16-year-old inventor, scientist, and cancer researcher who, in 2012, was awarded the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair’s prestigious “Gordon E. Moore Award” for his invention that detects an increase of a protein that indicates the presence of pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer during early stages when there is a higher likelihood of a cure.

… Jack is also openly gay, and says that his family and a few close friends had known for about three years, and are very accepting.

 He says he used to worry that there were few gay role models in the science field, or that he would be perceived as “that weird gay kid.” But now he hopes he can help inspire other LGBT youth to get involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

Meet Jack: Scientist, inventor, kayaking enthusiast, ‘Glee’ fan, likes boys, … and is only 16 – LGBTQ Nation.