Robin-Lee Francke|Published
A high school learner from the North West has earned international recognition as an American Lung Cancer Scholar.
Brandon Mashandudze, 14, from Mahikeng, is a normal teenager with a passion for science and technology, and for asking the right questions.
The Grade 9 learner from Curro Mahikeng was awarded these top honours for his research on using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect lung cancer earlier.
He earned the title through the Lung Cancer Innovation Challenge, an international competition for middle and high school learners run by the American Lung Association’s Lung Cancer Screening Initiative.
Brandon’s certificate was issued in association with the Harvard Medical School educational programme.
AI can be a tool to help doctors
Entrants develop a medical innovation project focused on lung cancer awareness, screening, or early detection, working with mentors along the way.
Each entry was judged on innovation, impact, scalability, cost, and subject knowledge.
Brandon’s winning proposal looked at how AI and digital health technologies could improve lung cancer prevention, early detection and personalised risk assessment. To complete it, the teenager worked through oncology, epidemiology, machine learning and biostatistics, subjects not usually taught in Grade 9, and revised the project over several rounds.
“At some point, it stopped feeling like a normal school project and felt more like I was actually investigating a question,” he said.
According to Brandon, he chose lung cancer because early detection is important and said his research shaped how he sees technology.
“AI isn’t here to replace doctors. It can be a tool to help doctors look at information and possibly identify things earlier,” he said.
Winning streak
The recognition follows several recent science-fair achievements.
In 2025, Brandon won a silver medal and the Junior AI for Impact Award at the Eskom Expo International Science Fair, after winning gold and Best Project in Social Sciences at the regional level.
At the 2026 Ngaka Modiri Molema Regional Science Fair, Brandon received the Best Innovation award and was named a Cell C Top Project Award recipient for a research project investigating how environmental conditions influence the spread of infectious diseases.
At the 2026 Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, Brandon won a bronze medal for his mathematical model to identify optimal filtration points in municipal water networks, helping to suppress waterborne pathogens before an outbreak occurs.
School recognition
The executive head of Curro Mahikeng, Janita Maritz, described Brandon as hardworking, humble, and curious about how things work.
She said the school aims to give learners the room to explore ambitious questions, with teachers acting as mentors. His physical sciences teacher, Miss Tshireletso Pitso, guided his research methodology, assisted him in sharpening how he communicated his findings, and encouraged him when the work became challenging.
“We are incredibly proud of Brandon. It is wonderful to see his hard work recognised on an international stage,” Maritz said.
Brandon said he plans to continue his research with more data and more time and is interested in work where medicine, science, and technology overlap.
“I want other young people to know that they don’t need to wait until they’re older to start researching something that interests them,” he said.
IOL