KL2 Scholar Lajja Desai Takes Center Stage for Ted-Style Talk
Today, congenital heart defects (CHDs) are far from a death sentence; more than 80 percent of babies born with one are expected to live past the age of 35.
“But one of the things hurting our patients is the care itself,” says Lajja Desai, MD, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Cardiology.
By the time they celebrate their 20th birthday, these patients will have been exposed to radiation equivalent to about 2,000 chest X-rays from their monitoring and treatment. The cancer risk is palpable.
But what if there was a better way?
Presenting a TED-style talk before an audience of scientists and community members at MATTER, Desai outlined her research exploring the use of four-dimensional flow and oximetry magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a non-invasive technique that uses radio waves and a strong magnet rather than radiation. Desai stood before a slide glowing red and blue to illustrate what it meant to be a “red baby” — one with optimal blood flow on a 4D flow MRI — versus a “blue baby,” whose body is struggling with blood-oxygen levels.
I’ve learned that it can be very impactful to focus on the patient stories behind our work to really connect with others and help them understand the importance of our research.”
“4D flow MRI can allow us to see where blood with and without enough oxygen is going over time. We may be able to determine which kids are actually at risk for complications and learn how we can help them live happier healthier lives,” Desai says. “There are always going to be procedures and surgeries that are needed for these kids. But I think we can use tools like MRI to reduce the amount and thus their associated risks.”
Children with heart disease live on average 31 years less than the general population, and patients who undergo multiple procedures are exposed to even higher levels of radiation. One of five presenters at Eureka Talks 2024, Desai stood on stage and told a complex story in a simple way. She brought the audience along a journey of a child who was born with a congenital heart defect and who eventually received a heart transplant.
“She was rolled down the hallway, her parents had balloons, the nurses were clapping, and we were left thinking that we did our jobs and helped,” says Desai. “But transplants come with their own set of complications and one of those is cancer.”
Unfortunately, her patient developed lymphoma at age 10. It was an aggressive form of the disease and Desai, who was once filled with hope for the child’s future, had just learned of her death.
“Medicine is a people-first career filled with stories impacting the lives of patients and their families. Sometimes as physicians, it’s easy to discuss our work strictly in an academic way and take out the emotional aspect of our day-to-day and what truly drives our motivations,” says Desai. “I’ve learned that it can be very impactful to focus on the patient stories behind our work to really connect with others and help them understand the importance of our research.”
Desai is a KL2 Scholar at the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute. Now a K12 Award program, the Multidisciplinary Career Development award is a National Center for Advancing Translational Science-sponsored grant supporting early-career faculty at Northwestern. It is designed to train a diverse workforce of investigators to drive future innovation and implement effective clinical and translational research.
Desai’s long-term career goals aim to leverage her clinical role as an interventional cardiologist to position her at the forefront of developing and implementing pioneering diagnostic MRI tools that guide interventional approaches. She’s more focused than ever on making sure her discoveries can also be disseminated in approachable ways.
“We all need to learn how to speak about our clinical work and research in an approachable way,” says Desai. “It was great to see the variety of people who came to hear about our work at the Eureka Talks. I loved meeting with community members who are excited about new advances in medicine and my involvement in the event encouraged me to increase community-based collaborative aspects of my research.”
There are more than 2.4 million people living in the United States who were born with congenital heart defects, and more than 50 percent of those people are adults.
“But they require lifelong care and that means a lot of tests, procedures, surgeries, medications, and hospital stays,” Desai says.
The average patient receives more than $2 million in medical care, and it’s estimated that about half of that cost is paid for by the families themselves. More than $70 billion each year is spent in the United States on children with heart defects. Shrinking the financial burden and cancer risk is core to Desai’s work.
“I hope that I can continue to improve the quality of life of kids with heart disease and leverage technology to create solutions that reduce the financial burden on our patients,” says Desai. “This event helped me get one step closer to that goal.”
Research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant Number KL2TR001424. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Written by Roger Anderson
