DALLAS: A 16-year-old Hobart student who investigated the use of a chemical from the skin of tree frogs as a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease has won a national science award for her after-school efforts.
Hannah Sutton looked at a possible treatment for Alzheimer’s using a peptide, Caerin 1.9, found in the skin glands of the Australian tree frog.
Her research has won her the investigation category of the BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards for school students.
Every Tuesday afternoon for a year, Ms Sutton left school and went to the Menzies Research Institute in Hobart to conduct her experiments.
“I had a pretty amazing teacher at school and I wanted to undertake a gold CREST Award which is something run by the CSIRO and to do that it’s mandatory that you have a mentor because of the level of the project,” she said.