Anusha Gopalratnam

At first glance, Anusha Gopalratnam of Hockessin seems like your average teenager.

She plays flute, volunteers as a tutor at her high school, does community service, and is a member of the cheerleading squad.But the comparisons between Anusha, 16, a senior at Charter School of Wilmington, and the average high school student end there.

Anusha, who works four days a week at the research labs at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, is co-writing a research paper on autism to be published in the Journal of Neuroscience.Autism is a brain disorder that impairs a person's communication skills.

She's also working with medical researchers on a paper examining cerebral palsy.

Her "peers" in the medical profession still have a hard time believing Anusha is still a teenager.Dr. Carolyn Schanen, head of genetics research at the hospital, said when Anusha came to work for her in September, she explained medical concepts in terms a college undergraduate could understand.

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Anusha credits her success to a lifelong love for medicine.

"The thing that makes [the research] so easy is that I enjoy it so much," she said."I've wanted to go into medicine for as long as I can remember."

She's still trying to decide whether to become a practicing physician, a medical researcher, or both, like her mentor Schanen.But Anusha said she is taking things one step at a time, and the first step is college.

She was recently admitted to Johns Hopkins University and has been nominated for the prestigious Presidential Scholars Program and the National Merit Scholarship.Anusha will find out this month if she has been selected for the National Merit Scholarship, which would give her $2,500 for college.

Sue Hogan, a counselor at the Charter School of Wilmington, said Anusha has gone well beyond the expectations of a typical high school student.
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"She is the type of person who has it all," said Hogan, who works with Anusha in the school's peer leadership program.
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Hogan said Anusha defies the stereotype of researchers being anti-social bookworms.
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Anusha may be a prodigy to her peers, but her early success does not surprise her parents.
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Anusha Gopalratnam is researching autism and cerebral palsy at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.Anusha, a senior at Charter School of Wilmington, will attend Johns Hopkins University.

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