By Cindy Dashnaw Jackson
The awardees of the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center’s 2024 Merilyn Hester Scholarships – Noah Burket and Maya Krishnan – believe medical research will inform their patient interactions.
Hester Research Scholarship awardees believe medical research and practice should work hand in hand
Noah Burket
Burket’s heart and mind drive him to pursue a career in pediatrics—specifically as a neurosurgeon-scientist specializing in neuro-oncology.
“Medically, children’s pathologies are challenging. Pediatric patients have complex tumors, small anatomies and a skull base that comprise a complex area for many delicate things,” Burket said. “I also feel it’s important to conduct research for kids because they still have lives to live and things to experience. The human aspect is the entire reason I want to be in medicine. You’re involved with the entire family.”
He’s awed by parents who donate their children’s tissue for researchers like him to use.
“I feel really grateful to be part of such a very special act. It’s selfless,” Burket said. “A family recently donated a patient’s brain to the lab of Dr. Jignesh K. Tailor, where I work, so we’ve been able to study her tumor.”
Building on research supported by a cancer center Wright Scholarship last year, Burket is trying to create a model for pediatric spinal ependymoma in NF2 patients—children with a genetic condition that results in nervous system tumors. Whether the tumors are aggressive or not, surgery to remove them is painstaking and risky. That’s why he’s not giving up the ‘surgery’ part of ‘neurosurgeon.’
“As a neurosurgeon-scientist, I can help the patient in surgery, then take the tumor to my lab and use it for research to find new treatments without the surgery, which is traumatic for everyone.”
Burket said the Hester Scholarship will support his work toward having his own lab one day.
“The scholarship funds lab supplies relevant to my project and travel to the Society for Neuro-Oncology annual meeting. I attended last year, thanks to a scholarship, and I get to present this year. It’s a wonderful opportunity to network and learn more about the current field of neuro-oncology.”
Maya Krishnan
The best part of a physician-scientist’s job is being among the first to see the impact of research advances, Krishnan said. She started down this path in high school by discovering a research finding that helped establish a new paradigm for the body’s testosterone distribution.
In college, she planned her undergraduate class schedules for going into medicine. Then, as a junior, she decided she wanted PhD training to enrich her career and patient interactions.
“I believe you really need to have science and benchwork as a supplement to anything you’re doing with patients,” she said.
Shadowing Dr. Jodi Skiles in the cancer center’s pediatric bone marrow transplant clinic allowed her to see “the evolution of medicine and science in real time,” she said.
“Every patient I see in the stem cell clinic is on some kind of CAR T-cell treatment. It’s almost the standard of care for cancer. I got intrigued by the possibility of repurposing CAR T for autoimmune diseases like lupus because a lot of work from 2022 showed very promising results,” she said.
The Hester Scholarship will allow Krishnan to work on developing these immunotherapeutics in Dr. Mark Kaplan’s lab.
“The Kaplan lab offers incredible mentorship and a plethora of projects in cancer and autoimmunity. It’s given me a more thorough understanding of how immunology is critical in various disease etiologies, especially oncology,” Krishnan said.
She hopes to continue pediatric hematology/oncology training through the pediatric physician-scientist training program after earning her MD/PhD.
“The Midwest is a fantastic place to do all this,” Krishnan said. “I’m surrounded by some of the best, most intelligent and kindest peers I could ask for. The clinicians are genuinely kind, caring, innovative people who are capable of being so human while also so well-read and willing to try new things.”
About the Author
Cindy Dashnaw Jackson finds and tells nonprofit stories that inspire audiences to share, show up and support. She honed her ability to craft a message that fits an audience during 20 years in nonprofit PR and communications. Now a freelancer and founder of Cause Communications LLC, she's a copywriter and storyteller for nonprofits across the United States. And she earned her degree at IUPUI.
