Macinley Butson

Last updated

Macinley Butson
NationalityAustralian
Alma materThe Illawarra Grammar School
AwardsStockholm Junior Water Prize (2019) NSW Young Australian of the Year (2018)
Website www.macinleybutson.com

Macinley Butson is an inventor and scientist who won the 2018 NSW Young Australian of the Year and 2019 Stockholm Junior Water Prize. [1]

Contents

Their inventions gear towards supporting radiotherapy breast cancer patients and ensuring provision of safe drinking water for developing communities. [2] They became a part of BBC 100 Women 2020 because of their contributions and inspirational role in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [2] and 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia under Healthcare and Science. [3]

Early life and education

Butson hails from Wollongong, New South Wales. [4] They began inventing when they were six years old. [1] They attended high school at The Illawarra Grammar School. [4]

Career

They were 18 years old when they invented the SODIS ultraviolet radiation sticker which tests whether water is safe to drink, a breakthrough that has the potential to save lives from contaminated water. [5] They also invented the SMART Armour which aims to protect breast cancer patients from the effects of excess radiation during radiotherapy treatment. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiation therapy</span> Therapy using ionizing radiation, usually to treat cancer

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor. Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. The subspecialty of oncology concerned with radiotherapy is called radiation oncology. A physician who practices in this subspecialty is a radiation oncologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast cancer</span> Cancer that originates in mammary glands

Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a red or scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">External beam radiotherapy</span> Treatment of cancer with ionized radiation

External beam radiation therapy (EBRT) describes the use of a collimated beam of ionizing radiation from outside the body to treat a disease. As follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brachytherapy</span> Type of radiation therapy

Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. Brachy is Greek for short. Brachytherapy is commonly used as an effective treatment for cervical, prostate, breast, esophageal and skin cancer and can also be used to treat tumours in many other body sites. Treatment results have demonstrated that the cancer-cure rates of brachytherapy are either comparable to surgery and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or are improved when used in combination with these techniques. Brachytherapy can be used alone or in combination with other therapies such as surgery, EBRT and chemotherapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton therapy</span> Medical Procedure

In medicine, proton therapy, or proton radiotherapy, is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often to treat cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam radiotherapy is that the dose of protons is deposited over a narrow range of depth; hence in minimal entry, exit, or scattered radiation dose to healthy nearby tissues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radioactive quackery</span> Quackery that improperly promotes radioactivity as a therapy for illnesses

Radioactive quackery is quackery that improperly promotes radioactivity as a therapy for illnesses. Unlike radiotherapy, which is the scientifically sound use of radiation for the destruction of cells, quackery pseudo-scientifically promotes involving radioactive substances as a method of healing for cells and tissues. It was most popular during the early 20th century, after the discovery in 1896 of radioactive decay. The practice has widely declined, but is still actively practiced by some.

Adjuvant therapy, also known as adjunct therapy, adjuvant care, or augmentation therapy, is a therapy that is given in addition to the primary or initial therapy to maximize its effectiveness. The surgeries and complex treatment regimens used in cancer therapy have led the term to be used mainly to describe adjuvant cancer treatments. An example of such adjuvant therapy is the additional treatment usually given after surgery where all detectable disease has been removed, but where there remains a statistical risk of relapse due to the presence of undetected disease. If known disease is left behind following surgery, then further treatment is not technically adjuvant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ductal carcinoma in situ</span> Medical condition

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), also known as intraductal carcinoma, is a pre-cancerous or non-invasive cancerous lesion of the breast. DCIS is classified as Stage 0. It rarely produces symptoms or a breast lump one can feel, typically being detected through screening mammography. It has been diagnosed in a significant percentage of men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomotherapy</span> Type of radiation therapy

The TomoTherapy platform is a helical radiation therapy delivery system that integrates a linear accelerator and CT technology. It delivers accurate high-quality helical fan-beam image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IG-IMRT) from multiple 360-degree rotations around the patient as the treatment table moves. It enables accurate control of the radiation dose so it conforms precisely to the tumor and minimizes dose to healthy tissues. The TomoTherapy platform is designed to deliver image-guided 3D conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is radiation therapy that is administered during surgery directly in the operating room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cobalt therapy</span> Medical use of gamma rays

Cobalt therapy is the medical use of gamma rays from the radioisotope cobalt-60 to treat conditions such as cancer. Beginning in the 1950s, cobalt-60 was widely used in external beam radiotherapy (teletherapy) machines, which produced a beam of gamma rays which was directed into the patient's body to kill tumor tissue. Because these "cobalt machines" were expensive and required specialist support, they were often housed in cobalt units. Cobalt therapy was a revolutionary advance in radiotherapy in the post-World War II period but is now being replaced by other technologies such as linear accelerators.

Intraoperative electron radiation therapy is the application of electron radiation directly to the residual tumor or tumor bed during cancer surgery. Electron beams are useful for intraoperative radiation treatment because, depending on the electron energy, the dose falls off rapidly behind the target site, therefore sparing underlying healthy tissue.

Breast cancer management takes different approaches depending on physical and biological characteristics of the disease, as well as the age, over-all health and personal preferences of the patient. Treatment types can be classified into local therapy and systemic treatment. Local therapy is most efficacious in early stage breast cancer, while systemic therapy is generally justified in advanced and metastatic disease, or in diseases with specific phenotypes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PARP inhibitor</span> Pharmacological enzyme inhibitors of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases

PARP inhibitors are a group of pharmacological inhibitors of the enzyme poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Targeted intra-operative radiotherapy</span> Method of targeted radiotherapy after surgical removal of tumours

Targeted intra-operative radiotherapy, also known as targeted IORT, is a technique of giving radiotherapy to the tissues surrounding a cancer after its surgical removal, a form of intraoperative radiation therapy. The technique was designed in 1998 at the University College London. In patients having lumpectomy for breast cancer, the TARGIT-A(lone) randomized controlled trial tested whether TARGIT within a risk-adapted approach is non-inferior to conventional course of external beam postoperative radiotherapy given over several weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pramod Kumar Julka</span>

Pramod Kumar Julka, is an Indian cancer specialist (oncologist), medical educationist and writer, known for performing the first peripheral blood stem cell transplant following high dose chemotherapy in Metastatic Breast Cancer in India. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of medicine and medical education. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has awarded him by bestowing on him the honorary membership.

Eleanor D. Montague was an American radiologist and educator who established breast-conserving therapy in the United States and improved radiation therapy techniques. She became a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 1993.

Reshma Jagsi is an American Radiation oncologist. She is the Newman Family Professor and Deputy Chair in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan. Overall, she is the author of over 350 published articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and continues scholarly research in three primary areas of interest: breast cancer, bioethics, and gender equity, with the support of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, for which she serves as a Senior Scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayant S. Vaidya</span> British-Indian surgeon and oncologist

Jayant S. Vaidya is a British-Indian surgeon-oncologist and clinical academic who, together with Michael Baum and Jeffrey Tobias, developed the technique called targeted intra-operative radiotherapy (TARGIT). He is a professor of surgery and oncology at the University College London, London and the author of two books on breast cancer, one on tobacco eradication, and over 200 academic articles.

Lori Jo Pierce is an American radiation oncologist and 57th President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She is a Full Professor and Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the use of radiotherapy in the multi-modality treatment of breast cancer, with emphasis on intensity modulated radiotherapy in node positive breast cancer, the use of radiosensitizing agents, and the outcomes of women treated with radiation for breast cancer who are carriers of a BRCA1/2 breast cancer susceptibility gene.

References

  1. 1 2 "Macinley Butson". Forbes. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 "BBC 100 Women 2020: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. "30 Under 30 Asia 2020: Healthcare & Science". Forbes. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 Bourke, Latika (1 September 2019). "'This will stick in our minds for a long time': Macinley's invention could change lives for one cent". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  5. "18 year old Macinley Butson wins global prize for water invention". Women's Agenda. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  6. "Why Macinley Butson Is Our Hero". Marie Claire. Retrieved 6 March 2021.