Way to Go!: Hewlett High grad Eric Brooks

Eric Brooks, a recent graduate of Hewlett High School, is one of 20 students nationwide named a 2010 Davidson Fellow by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development in Nevada, based on his study of genetic factors affecting metastatic progression of prostate cancer.

For winning, he received a $25,000 scholarship.

"I decided to study prostate cancer because although it is one of the most common cancers, it is a disease that we still don't understand very well," said Brooks, now a freshman at Yale University.

In his project, Brooks developed models based on evolutionary selection to identify genes that may affect the metastatic potential of prostate cancer either positively or negatively and to better determine who must undergo painful treatment.

He began his science research at the age of 14 at New York University Medical Center - first as an unpaid research volunteer for two years, then as a research assistant in the Human Genetics Program.

At Hewlett, Brooks was class valedictorian, president of the mock trial team, captain of the Math Olympiad team and president of the National and Foreign Language honor societies.

In March, Brooks finished fifth and won $30,000 in the national Intel science contest.