Brave Little Fighters

Ethan Niu is a senior at Harriton High School who is passionate about the study of cancer biology, medicine, and healthcare systems.

From a young age, Ethan was always making a mess in his kitchen by following his scientific experiment book. However, Ethan’s passion for scientific research was further ignited when his mother was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2019 before relapsing in 2021 – this time in her brain. While we are so grateful for her remission now, this experience inspired Ethan to write and self-illustrate “Brave Little Fighters” to teach other children and families that it’s not their fault and how to support their loved ones or themselves during this difficult time. Through a comprehensive editing and feedback process with oncologists at Penn Medicine and child specialist Madison Galvin at the University of Michigan’s Cancer Center, “Brave Little Fighters” was self-published in July 2023 as a recommended resource by the “Families Facing Cancer” program.

Ethan is not only a children’s storyteller, but also a passionate researcher. He interned at the Wistar Institute this past summer, researching the impacts of chemotherapy on a specific allele more prominent in those of African descent in the Murphy Lab. He will be conducting leukemia research in the Liang Lab at the Wistar Institute in January 2024, as well, to continue pursuing his passion for scientific discovery.

Outside of school, Ethan continues to pursue his passions – whether it be as captain of his high school varsity swim team, demonstration leader of his school’s science club, or author of Chem Corner (his own Instagram where he posts weekly comics on chemistry-related phenomena).

We hope you enjoy “Brave Little Fighters”. Please feel free to reach out to eniupublishing@gmail.com for any inquiries.