Entrepreneurial advice from the nation's youngest scientist

At the “ripe old age” of 13, Rishab Jain has not only been dubbed with the title of the country’s top young scientist, but he’s also created a way to make treatments for one of the nation’s leading causes of death more effective.

This week, Jain was named the winner of the 2018 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for his work in developing a new way to accurately locate and track the pancreas in real-time during MRI radiotherapy treatments. He tested his algorithm using images of the human digestive system, and found it could correctly detect the pancreas with a 98.9 percent success rate.

The seventh grader competed alongside nine other finalists during a live competition in St. Paul, Minnesota, to clinch the title and prize of $25,000.

But while his scientific chops are set to disrupt the world of pancreatic cancer treatments, he has a bigger message for wannabe entrepreneurs.

“Failure is a key part of success. Just because a mistake is made or something didn’t go right the first time, it doesn’t mean that it’s time to give up or that it’s a failure,” Jain tells FOX Business.  “Just keep pursuing your ideas.”

He says in fact, if someone does give up on their dream, that is when it becomes a failure.

The Portland, Oregon, native says perseverance and dedication are the two key traits that helped him win this year’s title, and he wants other young kids to follow in his footsteps.

“I want to encourage people to keep solving problems in the world and help them work on ideas that they have.”

He also says he has plans of becoming a doctor or a surgeon.