[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10323]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CONGRATULATING ERIN SMITH

  (Mr. YODER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YODER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 17-year-old Erin 
Smith of Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park in my 
district at home in Kansas.
  Erin recently won the International BioGENEius Challenge held in San 
Diego, California, earning $7,500 for her research with the award from 
the Biotechnology Institute.
  The International BioGENEius Challenge pushes high school students 
from across the world to find solutions to healthcare, sustainability, 
and environmental needs through biotechnology.
  Erin's research and work focused on Parkinson's disease which affects 
about 7 to 10 million people worldwide and about 60,000 new patients in 
America each year. Erin coded a website that can record the facial 
expressions of subjects using special software which enabled her to 
discover early indicators of Parkinson's disease. She then built an 
algorithm that could be used as a diagnostic tool.
  Mr. Speaker, Erin sounds like one of the world's foremost 
researchers, but she is only a rising senior at Shawnee Mission West. 
She is truly incredible.
  I congratulate her and wish her the best in what is just the 
beginning of a long journey helping many people living with this 
dreaded disease.

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