Meet Leanne Fan, America's Top Young Scientist

Leanne Fan.
(Image credit: Courtesy photo)

Leanne Fan has always been an inventor, starting in the first grade when she made contraptions out of toothpicks and marshmallows.

Now 14, the San Diego resident has stepped up her game with the Finsen Headphones. These antibiotic-free headphones aim to use blue light therapy to detect and treat mid-ear infections. It's a low-cost option to treat a major problem — worldwide, there are 700 million cases of mid-ear infections every year, and nearly 21,000 deaths. Fan estimates that the Finsen Headphones could potentially reduce the number of kids who suffer hearing loss after a mid-ear infection by up to 60 percent.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.