Teen's AI-Powered Retina Study Wins $175,000 for Autism and ADHD Screening
Seventeen-year-old Edward Kang earned a $175,000 science award for developing RetinaMind, an AI system that analyzes retinal images to help screen for autism and ADHD.
Diagnosing autism and ADHD can take months or years, prompting Edward Kang of Hackensack, New Jersey, to investigate whether the eye offers early clues. He created RetinaMind, training several AI algorithms on a public retinal-image dataset to detect patterns linked to these conditions and examined which features drove the predictions. To validate the findings, Kang cultivated retinal-cell models and confirmed gene-expression changes that might explain the visual signatures.
The prototype demonstrates how such a system could operate as a screening aid, though it is not yet a clinical diagnostic tool. Kang, a student at Bergen County Academies, also earned a runner-up spot at the International Research Olympiad and co-founded a science-reading club. His achievements extend to music, performing as a baritone at Carnegie Hall, and community service at a summer camp for homeless children. Society for Science awarded his work $175,000, highlighting the promise of combining AI, neuroscience, and cell biology for medical screening.
Why it matters
The project shows how AI and eye imaging could speed up detection of autism and ADHD, potentially improving early intervention.
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