Cerebral curiosity Graduate student Steven Keating takes a problem-solving approach to his brain cancer.

n 2007, Steven Keating had his brain scanned out of sheer curiosity.

Keating had joined a research study that included an MRI scan, and he asked that the scan’s raw data be returned to him. The scan revealed only a slight abnormality, near his brain’s smell center, which he was advised to have re-evaluated in a few years. A second scan, in 2010, showed no change, suggesting that the abnormality was most likely benign.

While the second scan provided reassurance, Keating’s knowledge of the abnormality — as a result of having access to the raw data from these scans — ultimately led to the detection of a baseball-sized tumor that was removed this past August.

Now a graduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and based at the MIT Media Lab, Keating says that his curiosity saved his life — and that his experience with cancer has fueled a strong interest in advocating for open health data.

Kevin Leonardi

Full Story: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/student-profile-steven-keating-0401

Thanks to David Nelson for sharing.