All of which seems pretty unremarkable until you realize that just two years ago Malamut was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, an aggressive tumor that had sprouted between his brain stem and cerebellum. In April 1999, doctors with Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa removed the tumor. A week later they inserted a shunt to help Malamut's brain drain properly.

After the surgeries, Malamut, who lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, lost much of his ability to speak, eat, or walk. After months of radiation and chemotherapy, Malamut regained many of those skills and today, he and his family have high hopes of keeping the cancer at bay for good.

Daniel's father, Eduardo, said that while watching his son's recovery hasn't always been easy, he was struck by how far Daniel had come during preparations for his Bar Mitzvah.

"You lead about half of the Friday night service and then Saturday morning you lead the entire service. You read in Hebrew from the Torah and you have to do some chanting," Eduardo said. "It was a huge success. When Daniel got up and started to read Hebrew, I just broke down. Just to know all that he had been through and seeing him up there like that."

The Malamuts have nothing but praise for the physicians and support staff who worked with Daniel over the past two years and continue to offer their professional and emotional support. They even helped him with his sixth-grade science fair project on chemotherapy. Sue O'Dorisio, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatrician with University of Iowa Children's Hospital at UI Hospitals and Clinics, arranged for Malamut to visit her research lab in the UI College of Medicine. With the help of an assistant, he used a microscope to take photographs of medulloblastoma cells and several chemotherapy drugs, and performed an experiment to show the effect of the drugs on the cancer cells. He got the highest grade in his class.

Says his father: "The health care staff tries so hard to treat the patient rather than just treating the disease. They really care and it shows."

That attitude of caring seems to have rubbed off. This summer Malamut worked as a swimming student-teacher for preschool children at the Marion, Iowa, YMCA. Even at a very young age, he is making a difference in the lives of others-just like the health care professionals who made a difference in his.

Daniel Malamut earned an "A" on his school science project thanks to assistance from UI medical student Jeff Sall (seated). Malamut, recovering from brain cancer, receives his primary care from pediatric oncologist Raymond Tannous, M.D. (right).