caption birth_date known_for image article_title name
vertes in 2006 1985 alzheimer 's and cancer research eva vertes in 2006.jpg eva vertes
 eva vertes
eva vertes

eva vertes -lrb- born 1985 -rrb- is an american alzheimer 's and cancer researcher .
she is a university of florida college of medicine student pursuing her m.d. degree after attending princeton university as an undergraduate .
she was recognized for her research when she was still a teenager .
at 17 , she discovered properties of a chemical compound , -lrb- rpi-069 -rrb- which stopped the brain cells of fruit flies from dying .
this is considered a step towards curing alzheimer 's .
she won first prize at basef and the intel international science and engineering fair in kentucky , and then finished her high school diploma by correspondence while continuing her research in italy for a year , under a fellowship she was awarded .
she is also recognized for her research which found a correlation between stem cells and brain cancer .
this finding is the basis of her argument that cancer itself is the body 's natural self-repair system in error .
she is perhaps most visible due to her being on a pbs series on scientists , and speaking at the ted convention .
