Apple Scholarship Awarded to Texas Teen for Innovative Skin Cancer App
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Apple’s latest scholarship program recipient is 16-year old Mason Dierkes of Frisco, TX, thanks to his innovative development of a skin cancer app that could help people watch for early warning signs of skin cancer.
Called Skin Cancers, the app offers a variety of information about how skin cancer progresses and features a simulation that shows how skin cancer can spread from spots and blemishes over the years.
Users can adjust the age profile and other factors to see how cancer develops, and note what warning signs can distinguish skin cancer from other skin conditions.
Dierkes reports that “My grandpa passed away to Melanoma when I was very young, and it always left the impression on me of how it could have been prevented.”
Dierkes’ WWDC scholarship provides a free membership into Apple’s Developer Program and related kits for ongoing work.
According to Dierkes, he is now working on an app that can tap into new FaceTime features announced in 2021. Among the new features coming to FaceTime will be the option to share streaming content directly through FaceTime, new integrations with Messages, and a new optical zoom option.
It’s no surprise that Apple is willing to support more health-related app development as the Health app continues to receive updates and added capabilities for monitoring long-term health.
Apple recently announced an update for iOS 15 that will allow users to share more in-depth medical information and trends with their doctors and loved ones. This will allow users to monitor specific health conditions over time and provide more accurate information to their healthcare providers, while also staying HIPAA-compliant.