EDGEWOOD, Ky. -- Will Broomhead didn't always want to go into medicine. But then he was diagnosed with a rare form of tissue cancer at the age of 11.
"When all that hit, I really just changed my entire career goals, from being a pilot to being an oncologist, just so I could be there with the people who were there for me," Broomhead said.
Broomhead underwent three surgeries to treat the cancer. Now he's a cancer survivor and a junior at the Kenton County Academies of Innovation and Technology. And he has been named a PBS Emperor Science Award winner for the second year in a row.
"He really wants to change the world, and he's the type of scholar that will eventually do that," Academy Director Francis O'Hara said.
Broomhead used his first $1,500 award to give younger students a microscopic view of science through paper microscopes called Foldscopes.
"I purchased 700 microscopes and distributed them to five different schools, just to see if I could get some of the kids in middle school interested in science," he said.
Besides the scholarship money, the award comes with an internship, giving Broomhead the chance to shadow a researcher. Last year, he had a chance to work with a University of Kentucky researcher testing different types of chemotherapy on different cancers. This year, he'll be paired up with a researcher at another local hospital. He said he's hoping for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center or St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
"They're both such amazing hospitals," he said.
