Our very own students Alyssa Wong, Chloe Luo, and Liya Zhao recently won the 2025 Congressional App Challenge for the 3rd Congressional District with Can-Screen, an app that helps users screen for cancer and explore educational resources. The competition is provided by U.S. House of Representatives to encourage students to pursue computer science, and practical technology solution building for the community.
Can-Screen was developed as the trio’s freshman year research project. They were inspired to pursue the topic in order to increase accessibility to cancer screenings. “Everybody has a story to tell, a personal connection about cancer,” Alyssa said. “Cancer screening is so important, but people don’t even know that they’re supposed to be getting this screening and that they’re eligible.”
The trio acknowledged their AP biology teacher Brianna Abraham and Banny Wong, Alyssa Wong’s dad, who is a gastroenterologist at Vancouver Clinic, for supporting them through the process and providing guidance based on their expertise. Chloe reflects on the experience, emphasizing that “If even one more person gets cancer screening because of our app, it would mean so much to us, and all the late-night debugging will have been worth it.”
Over 13,800 students from across the country submitted 4,600 original apps focused that on different world challenges. As winners, Wong, Luo and Zhao have the opportunity to showcase their projects to Congress, staff and industry leaders in April on Capitol Hill.
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