Windsor, Ont. student's artificial pancreas prototype could make diabetes easier to manage
Grade 10 student Sohila Sidhu's prototype earned her a spot in the Canada-Wide Science Fair
A Windsor, Ont. Grade 10 student is earning accolades for a new artificial pancreas prototype that could help people better manage diabetes.
Sohila Sidhu developed the artificial pancreas prototype, which has already won several awards, and secured her a spot in this week's virtual Canada-Wide Science Fair.
Sidhu created the prototype, which enhances diabetic patient care, by allowing users to receive insulin administration automatically while being able to view their glucose levels on their smartphone in real time," Sidhu told CBC News on Monday.
Sidhu,15, said she was motivated to create the prototype by her mother, who had gestational diabetes while she was pregnant with Sidhu's younger sister.
"I had to watch my own mother inject insulin, and I want to make sure that no child ever has to go through that again," Sidhu said. "It's a very traumatic experience because I don't know what's going on."
Her experience along with the knowledge that many others live with diabetes made her want to do something about it.
"I definitely wanted to help out these people and make their lives a little bit better."
Sidhu said her parents, both of whom are biotechnology professors at the University of Windsor have been very supportive.
"As a young female engineer and entrepreneur, it's very great having all the support from everyone else because it really makes me feel like I can do something, and I'm actually a game changer in this field of innovative medicine," she said.
But despite her parents' expertise, Sidhu said the prototype came from her own research and work. She recalls the day the insulin pump began working on its own.
"I couldn't believe that I had finally gotten it to work because it had taken some time," she said. "I did not know much about resistors, and technology and stuff like that before, so I had to do my own research."
"I had to plan everything myself. I had to," she said. "I had mentors, of course, but I had to learn everything from scratch. So when I finally got it to work, it was a very thrilling experience."
Sidhu has plans to further develop the prototype, making it smaller and "biocompatible, so I would be able to market it as wearable technology, eventually allowing it to be used for real-life applications," she said.
"I absolutely love science," she said. "My parents have taught me science lessons since I was younger. I'm absolutely obsessed with science and math, and when I started, my first science fair was a seventh grade and I really wanted to go to the Canada-wide level."
"I won a couple of awards, but unfortunately I wasn't able to go," Sidhu said. "And ever since then, I've just been driven that I need to create something that will bring me to the next level. And here I am."
Jennifer Zazula, who teaches Sidhu's biology class, said Sidhu created the prototype as a personal project.
"I had a big smile on my face," Zazula said. "I love to inspire students."
"To see her take that idea and expand on it, truly amazing," she said. "I had butterflies and my hair on my arms sticking up. I was really, really proud of her, and all of her accomplishments."
Zazula said it's rare for a student create something like the artificial pancreas.
"You get one every so many years," she said. "But for [Sidhu], her ability is beyond what I think most people would expect from a student at 15."
"I would say she's a special case."