Houston Kilby ’21 Included as Author in Cardiology Discovery Journal

Hutchins Scholar Houston Kilby ’21 had a plan: She was going to travel to Scotland last summer to do research (with Science teacher John Clark) at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her work would be part of an ongoing, collaborative research project (initiated in 2017) between the Lawrenceville School and the Royal Botanic Garden to generate molecular sequencing data to better understand the evolutionary history of tropical plants.

Then the pandemic hit, making overseas travel impossible.

Lawrenceville’s Director of Science Research Elizabeth Fox worked with great dedication (and speed) to find new, meaningful summer research opportunities for each of the Hutchins Scholars. She matched Kilby with Dr. Xin-liang Ma (Professor and Director, Cardiovascular Injury Research Laboratory) and Dr. Yajing Wang (Research Associate Professor/Director of Basic and Translational Research) at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College Department of Emergency Medicine. Kilby was able to work (virtually) with the doctors on their cardiovascular disease research project and was included as an author on their paper, “Macrophages in Ischemic Heart Failure: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” published in Cardiology Discovery.

Houston discusses what she learned in her unexpected cardiology studies.

Can you briefly describe (for non-scientists) the overall research project?

Houston Kilby: Dr. Ma's lab specializes in cardiovascular disease research, and recently they have been investigating the connection between a condition called acute myocardial infarction and ischemic reperfusion injury. Acute myocardial infarction is basically a heart attack resulting from the blockage of coronary arteries (the arteries that bring blood into your heart) that cuts off the blood flow to the heart tissues. It can cause a lot of damage, and ischemic reperfusion injury is further damage done to the heart when after a period of ischemia (when there is no blood being supplied to the tissues to bring in oxygen) the blood returns. In this paper, they investigated different macrophage populations (which are a type of white blood cell) that regulate post-myocardial infarction injury and how immunoregulation therapy can help people with ischemic heart failure.

What specific work did you do?

HK: I am so grateful for Dr. Wang because she took time out of every week to meet with me and discuss the different topics in cardiovascular disease, as well as teach me about how a real lab works and the world of science.

I spent most of my time researching papers that had already been published, and reporting back to her in presentations on what had been done in the field they were planning to publish their paper in and how the research that had been completed related to what they were working on. I also had the opportunity to attend lab meetings and ask questions to some of the post-doctoral students in the lab about the papers they were presenting.

What do you feel were some of the most important, interesting, or useful things you learned?

HK: While everything I learned about cardiovascular disease was really interesting to me, I think that the most important thing I learned from my lab experience this summer was just about what it really meant to have a career in science. Dr. Wang and I talked about her graduate school experiences, the different conferences she would attend, and how she and Dr. Ma built their team. This part of my experience was something I couldn't have learned just from reading papers, because the connection I was able to make with the entire team in Dr. Ma's lab was honestly the highlight of my internship.

This experience was so valuable to me as someone who is potentially considering a future career in science. In addition to learning about fascinating topics and techniques they used, I gained an understanding of what it was like to work in a lab and have the experience of completing relevant and important research that was really going to help people. Although I was remote, and I wish I could have visited the lab in person, I still felt very connected to what was happening at Jefferson and I am so lucky to have had that connection.

How does it feel to see your name attached to a published research paper?

HK: It is a bit surreal, especially just seeing my name at the top of that paper with some of the smartest people I have ever spoken to. I am glad that I was actually helpful in Dr. Ma's lab this summer, despite being a high school student, and I was definitely really excited when the paper was finally published so I could share it with my family.

Most of all, however, I feel really grateful. Never in a million years did I expect to be published at 18 years old. I know that it would not have been possible without Dr. Ma and Dr. Wang's help, especially in taking me on as an intern at the last minute during a pandemic, and of course Dr. Fox's support in preparing me for this internship and helping to connect me to the lab in the first place. Without Hutchins Scholars, this would never have happened, and I am so happy that I was able to participate in this unique program for the last two years.

Have you decided which college you will attend next year? Any ideas about a major?

HK: This fall, I am planning to attend Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H.. I am not sure exactly what I am going to major in just yet, but I am really looking forward to the next four years and all the different disciplines I will have the opportunity to explore.

Is there anything you would like to add?

HK: I would just again like to say how thankful I am to Dr. Fox for all she has done to support me these last two years, the Hutchins Scholars program would not run without her time and dedication and I hope she knows how grateful we all are for her!

For additional information, please contact Lisa M. Gillard Hanson, director of Public Relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.