12-year-old receives award from WHO for his research
SMART and savvy Suhail Surajpal may only be 12 years old but he’s already making waves in the field of science and medicine. He recently received an award and certificate from the World Health Organisation (WHO) – for his research contribution to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Suhail, a Grade 7 pupil at Penzance Primary School, lives with his parents, Naseema, 51, homemaker, and Sanjay, 52, interior decorator, as well as his sister Sohêla, 20, in Glenwood, Durban.
He said he assisted in the write-up of a research paper on cancer by the IARC – it was reviewed by freelance scientists and found to be useful.
“My information proved useful to the group of 23 scientists who met at the
IARC late last year,” said Surajpal. “I was asked to write a research paper on the effectiveness of cancer prevention. The detailed assessments will be published as Volume 17 of the IARC Handbook of Cancer prevention in 2020.”
He said his project was about the effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening methods. It took him about three weeks to write up the paper.
“This opportunity was presented to all pupils and I wanted to contribute to this research,” said Surajpal.
“I developed a passion for medicine and science from watching my favourite television show, Rizzoli And Isles on Universal Studio,” he said. “My favourite character is Dr Maura Isles (played by Sasha Alexander) – she’s the chief medical examiner. She is extremely talented in her field of forensic pathology and has definitely changed my life forever.”
When Surajpal grows up he wants to further his studies as a molecular biologist or a genetic scientist at the University of Oxford in London. A budding entrepreneur – Surajpal would also like to start up his own medical research facility, pursue a career in web design and start his own data centre. And if that’s not enough he has plans to buy or start a hotel chain.
Last year he participated and was the winner of the Ventrepreneur Business Award, sponsored by Standard Bank. He has since started his own successful design and application development company, Surajpal Technologies, a division of his Surajpal Enterprises.
“I am inspired by my parents, sibling, aunts and uncles – they always push me to do my best,” said Surajpal. “My former science teacher, Sarah Pyoos has helped me develop my passion for medicine – with her extremely informative and interactive lessons on the history of medicine.”
When he’s not trying to save the world or growing his business, Surajpal loves web designing, music production, reading and scriptwriting.