Camp Simcha alum and childhood cancer survivor Elana Simon was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House yesterday for her cancer research work.

At just 18-years-old, Elana Simon from Manhattan has beaten a rare form of cancer, co-authored a study on the disease and been accepted to Harvard University. “Can I just say, I did not do this at 12, or 18,” President Obama told her during the fourth annual White House Science Fair. “We’re so proud of you.”

 

At the age of 12, Simon was diagnosed with a liver cancer known as fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. After her tumor was successfully removed, Simon, at 15, suggested a study to her surgeon. The study, which she helped to conduct, unconvered a genetic mutation that may play a role in how the tumor strikes. The findings were published in the prestigious journal, Science.

 

In April, Simon was named a “Young Champion in Cancer Research” by the American Association for Cancer Research. But she called the White House Science Fair, during which the President reviewed a visual representation of the mutation she studied, “totally the coolest thing I’ve done.”

Elana in today’s Wall Street Journal