Speaker 1: Pushkin. This is solvable on Jacob Weisberg, I learned not
Speaker 1: to deal in limitation, not to deal in obstacles, but
Speaker 1: rather to deal in possibility. Out of nearly two thousand
Speaker 1: high school students, Desia Taylor was recently named one of
Speaker 1: the forty finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Scholar Program.
Speaker 1: She was awarded twenty five thousand dollars for her work
Speaker 1: with beet dyed suitures to detect surgical site infections. I
Speaker 1: decided to create my project around the developing countries because
Speaker 1: they are disproportionately affected by surgical site infections. Specifically, according
Speaker 1: to the WHO, patients with surgical site infections are twice
Speaker 1: as likely to spend time in an intensive care unit,
Speaker 1: five times more likely to be readmitted after discharged, twice
Speaker 1: as likely to die. Desia Taylor is seventeen years old.
Speaker 1: She heard about those numbers and decided she could do
Speaker 1: something about it. My name is Desia Taylor, and I
Speaker 1: go to Iowa City West High School, and I think
Speaker 1: the problem of surgical site infections and developing countries can
Speaker 1: be solved. Tell me about your project. How does it work?
Speaker 1: So our skin is naturally acidic, having a pH of
Speaker 1: around five, but when our wounds are infected, that pH
Speaker 1: increases to eight or higher. For my project, I decided
Speaker 1: to create color changing sutures, and in order to make
Speaker 1: them change color, I had to find a natural indicator,
Speaker 1: which is something that changes color when the pH changes.
Speaker 1: So I put two of these principles of science together
Speaker 1: to create my color changing sutures, and the natural indicator
Speaker 1: I found, surprise is beats. Beats will show you if
Speaker 1: the pH level is indicating an infection after you've had stitches.
Speaker 1: Then this is after surgery we're talking about, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: So I would die this suture material in this beat,
Speaker 1: die that I that I've configurated, and I would let
Speaker 1: them dry, and then in order to test, since I
Speaker 1: can't I can't test on humans, I use pH and
Speaker 1: solutions that basically represent the different stages of healthy and infected.
Speaker 1: So healthy was the pH of five and the pH
Speaker 1: of nine is infected. So I would use the pH
Speaker 1: solutions to drop some liquid on the set of sutures
Speaker 1: that I created, and I would watch the color change happen.
Speaker 1: And I noticed that the color change would only happen
Speaker 1: with the pH of nine because beats only change color
Speaker 1: at eight or higher. So when a person is finished
Speaker 1: with surgery and they're stitched up with my stitches, and
Speaker 1: this would only work for like superficial wounds, So things
Speaker 1: that happened at the top of the skin, that area
Speaker 1: would start to change color because it picks up on
Speaker 1: that pH tracing, and then that lets everyone know that
Speaker 1: the wound was affected. The infections after surgery or a
Speaker 1: problem everywhere. It's a big problem in the United States too.
Speaker 1: What about this is geared towards other countries rather than
Speaker 1: the US. Well, I've decided to create my project around
Speaker 1: the developing countries because they are disproportionately affected by surgical
Speaker 1: site infections. Specifically, I read an article which was just
Speaker 1: like on a car ride back from my grandparents' house,
Speaker 1: where these scientists created color changing stitches that had all
Speaker 1: of this fancy technology and they did more than just
Speaker 1: like change color and whatnot. People could use their mobile
Speaker 1: device to connect and electro mat like all this stuff,
Speaker 1: like the things that I can't even explain to you.
Speaker 1: And I said to myself, this is an equity issue
Speaker 1: because people in developing countries won't be able to get
Speaker 1: their hands on this technology because it's too expensive. I
Speaker 1: set out to solve that problem so that they can't
Speaker 1: get to developing countries, essentially the people that beat them.
Speaker 1: I decided to create my project as where equity meets
Speaker 1: science perspective, and I put that together and that's how
Speaker 1: I created this invention for developing countries. Specific were there
Speaker 1: things you did as a kid that got you interested
Speaker 1: in performing surgery? And what would happen when you were suturing?
Speaker 1: My mom and I still tease about this story to
Speaker 1: this day, but I somehow wanted to become a surgeon
Speaker 1: out of nowhere. And I was like, I'm gonna stitch
Speaker 1: up my bear because like my bear had like blown
Speaker 1: a couple of stites. Yeah, yeah, exactly, so you understand.
Speaker 1: And I took the sewing kit and I just started
Speaker 1: stitching it up. I note that as my as the
Speaker 1: beginning of my project, the beginning of this research and
Speaker 1: the evolution to today and being here with you all,
Speaker 1: and that there I still have that there too. He's
Speaker 1: doing all right? What is are there any next steps
Speaker 1: with this project? Or is this kind of this was
Speaker 1: for the prize and you're on to the next thing,
Speaker 1: or do you think there may be some ways to
Speaker 1: try it or implement it somewhere. My next steps include
Speaker 1: patenting this project and then licensing so that I can
Speaker 1: get these suitors to the people that need it. Well.
Speaker 1: I'm sure it'll be the first of many patents. I
Speaker 1: recently saw that Thomas Edison had had over a thousand,
Speaker 1: so but I'm not sure. I think you may have
Speaker 1: an earlier start than he did. I mean, women are
Speaker 1: underrepresented in technology, African Americans that are underrepresented in medicine.
Speaker 1: What are yours as someone just starting out graduating from
Speaker 1: high school? Do you have insight into what the obstacles
Speaker 1: are and you know, maybe some ideas like your future
Speaker 1: idea about how to deal with that, how to solve
Speaker 1: that problem. It's not the problem we're talking about solving today,
Speaker 1: But you seem to be good at solving problems. I
Speaker 1: consider myself to be good at solving problems. I know
Speaker 1: that there are definitely so many obstacles for women, women
Speaker 1: of color everywhere. Being seventeen, in the community that I
Speaker 1: live in, I'm a I'm a black woman who quite
Speaker 1: often finds herself in white spaces, white male dominant spaces,
Speaker 1: and I learned not to deal in limitation, not to
Speaker 1: deal in obstacles, but rather to deal in possibility. So
Speaker 1: here I am with my project, with my equity social justice,
Speaker 1: racial equity background. I'm really I'm not looking for obstacles
Speaker 1: looking at obstacles. I'm really looking for the places where
Speaker 1: I can make a difference in best serves as a
Speaker 1: public servant. Essentially, it's great to see this kind of
Speaker 1: leadership at your age. It's it's amazing Gaija and I
Speaker 1: wonder what's what's next for you? What are your what
Speaker 1: are your plans for college next year? Well, for college
Speaker 1: next year, I am still awaiting. Um. I am in
Speaker 1: that group of students that you know where our decision
Speaker 1: dates got pushed back. So I'm hoping to get some
Speaker 1: decisions in the next few weeks. Don't don't want to
Speaker 1: give it away yet, I understand, But you're going to
Speaker 1: go straight through. It sounds like you're going to go
Speaker 1: to You're expecting to go to college in the fall
Speaker 1: and then probably medical school after college. Um, we'll see
Speaker 1: how that goes. As of right now, my tentative plan
Speaker 1: is too major in political science and eventually go to
Speaker 1: grad school for law. But my ultimate goal just whatever
Speaker 1: I decide to major in whatever I decide to do
Speaker 1: in grad school. My goal is to make sure that
Speaker 1: these suitors get to the people that need them. That's
Speaker 1: going to happen no matter what. Dejah. I'm always amazed
Speaker 1: when I see a science competition like this, and you know,
Speaker 1: the young people who come up with this amazing ideas.
Speaker 1: And as someone who was never good at coming up
Speaker 1: with that kind of idea, I'd love your advice. We
Speaker 1: always had the show by asking for some advice for listeners.
Speaker 1: How do you think creatively about this kind of innovation?
Speaker 1: My best piece of advice is to be curious. Now,
Speaker 1: I know that sounds really general, but I promise you
Speaker 1: that is the only way that I got where I
Speaker 1: am today. I was curious about conducting research. I was
Speaker 1: curious about beats, I was curious about science fair competitions.
Speaker 1: And I took this entire like I want to change
Speaker 1: the world idea to my mentor, Carolyn Walling, and she said,
Speaker 1: I think this is a great idea. You have to
Speaker 1: figure out where you're going to start. And now I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm everywhere changing the world, and that's been amazing. So like,
Speaker 1: being curious has afforded me so many opportunities, and there's
Speaker 1: just no way that I would be here if I
Speaker 1: were if I were just you know, kind of just
Speaker 1: going through the motions of life and not really seeking
Speaker 1: out new knowledge. So seeking out new knowledge, being curious
Speaker 1: is definitely the way to go. You you mentioned that
Speaker 1: you have a mentor. Can you tell me what that
Speaker 1: relationships like? Of course, Oh, my goodness, my mentor is amazing.
Speaker 1: So today we kind of just talked about my phase
Speaker 1: one of research. But since then, I've added like two
Speaker 1: new mentors to the team. My first one in OG
Speaker 1: that is Carolyn Walling. She was my honors teacher. I
Speaker 1: have had the honor and pleasure of welcoming Michelle Wickner
Speaker 1: to the team. She's also a chemistry teacher ap KIM
Speaker 1: so she's really smart. She's an ape him teacher at
Speaker 1: West High. And then I've also had the pleasure of
Speaker 1: welcoming Teresa Ho from the University Iola, a microbiologist to
Speaker 1: the team as well. Her expertise is, oh, my gosh,
Speaker 1: phenomenal because I'm working with two chemistry teachers. Um, so
Speaker 1: those are my three mentors. And then like my OGOG
Speaker 1: has been my mom because I love her and she's
Speaker 1: so amazing. But those are all of the people. Well,
Speaker 1: I love it, you've got you've got a whole team
Speaker 1: of people. But any tips for connecting with mentors if
Speaker 1: you don't even have one? Oh yes, I often think that,
Speaker 1: Like people have mentors, but they don't like they just
Speaker 1: don't call it that. Like someone you go to for advice,
Speaker 1: I consider a mentor. It's all relative to UM, to
Speaker 1: your personal perception of what a mentor is. But my
Speaker 1: number one piece of advice for students, especially because I'm
Speaker 1: still a student, UM, is to like listen to your teachers,
Speaker 1: like like followed back and like listen to your teachers.
Speaker 1: Talk to them. I mean, if if you want to,
Speaker 1: and um, really see what they have to say, like
Speaker 1: kind of about life, about school in general. Like you
Speaker 1: have no idea how far like being connected with a
Speaker 1: teacher can take you. I have so many teacher mentors,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, Like almost everyone in this building is
Speaker 1: a mentor of mine, and I absolutely love it. They
Speaker 1: have provided so much wisdom to my life, things that
Speaker 1: I would not have learned until probably like senior year
Speaker 1: of college. And that has been so amazing. So I
Speaker 1: offer that to my students out there Desia. Will you
Speaker 1: have a brilliant career ahead of you and it is
Speaker 1: such a pleasure talking to you. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Jacob Desiah Taylor is a senior
Speaker 1: at Iowa City West High School. To learn more about
Speaker 1: her work with beat Dyed Suitures and surgical side infections
Speaker 1: and health equity, check out the links in our show notes.
Speaker 1: Solvable Senior producer is Jocelyn Frank, Research and booking by
Speaker 1: Lisa Dunn. Catherine Girardo is managing producer, and our executive
Speaker 1: producer is Mia Loebell. Solvable is a production of Pushkin Industries.
Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to share, rate,
Speaker 1: and review it. It really helps us get the word out.
Speaker 1: You can find Pushkin podcasts wherever you listen, including on
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app and Apple podcast. I'm Jacob Weisberg.