A University of Northern BC student is receiving some big honours for his cancer research.
Fourth-year bio chem major Daud Akhtar earned the Cancer Studentship award, from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation for “academic excellence.
He says he has studied the progression of cancer and how to reverse it, and has also found ways to reduce the need for chemotherapy and radiation treatment that cause problems by killing healthy cells along with cancer.
“But by approaching a new approach where you’re aiming your efforts at a specific target within a cell, you’re reducing the toxicity level and being more precise in your target in aiming at specific cancer cells and not necessarily harming normal, healthy cells, as well,” Akhtar says.
He credits UNBC’s small size for leading the race to provide undergrads the chance to study cancer and discover a means to a cure.
