Jennifer Deasy has suffered from migraines since she was 11 years old more than half the 18-year-old Upper Dublin girls life. And she has an idea that just may ease the pain a bit for her and other migraine sufferers.

It also could net her a medical school scholarship.

Basically, her idea is to cure migraines with stem cell treatment.

Deasy has been named one of 12 semi-finalists for a National Academy Medical School Scholarship Challenge sponsored by the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists.

Three of the 12 will be selected to present their research proposals at the November Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Washington, D.C., according to an academy press release. One will receive a medical school scholarship up to $185,000, with $10,000 scholarships going to the runners-up.

The winners will be determined by scholars attending the November Congress.

Deasy was one of 3,100 honor high school students who attended the February Congress, where students were challenged to identify an unsolved medical/scientific/world health problem and create an original investigation to solve that problem.

My guidance counselor nominated me to attend the February Congress, said Deasy, a 2014 Upper Dublin High School grad and current freshman at Franklin & Marshall. Attending medical school has been a dream for as long as I can remember.

I always found [medicine] cool and interesting, she said, noting her dad is an oral surgeon, three uncles are doctors and one is a nurse. She hopes to become a neurologist, both seeing patients and doing research on the brain and its workings with different hormones and how they can affect brain function, like seizures and migraines.

Pain medication or caffeine pills are currently used to treat migraine symptoms, she said. It is not known what causes the severe headaches often accompanied by nausea, and there is no cure. Continued...

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Upper Dublin girl named semi-finalist for medical school scholarship