Researching ways to reduce infant mortality

September 24, 2024

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a life-threatening condition affecting thousands of premature infants born each year in the U.S.–a large enough problem that Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU) has a research lab devoted exclusively to the disease. 

Senior Aishat Fagun spent 10 weeks this summer with JHU’s Hackam Laboratory for Pediatric Surgical, Translational, and Regenerative Medicine in Baltimore.

“My research has significantly advanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of NEC,” Fagun said. “Given my interest in infant diseases and mortality rates, I found the work being done here particularly compelling.”

Through JHU’s Careers in Science and Medicine Summer Internship Program, Fagun completed a project looking at pregnant mice, maternal stressors, and the rates of NEC among their offspring. More specifically, Fagun injected several mice mid-pregnancy with a bacterial infection, then examined their offspring a week after birth for signs of NEC. 

“I had to learn mouse anatomy in order to identify healthy intestines while comparing them to those affected by NEC,” Fagun said. While young mouse intestines weigh less than a penny, the process of studying the tiny organs “was “pretty exciting,” Fagun said. “I found I could spend all day doing it.”

She said the research experience was very rewarding. She also was gratified it wasn’t the whole focus of the program. Fagun spent many hours shadowing pediatric physicians and surgeons “seeing how the work we did in the lab directly benefited patients in a clinical setting,” she said. “This full-circle moment highlighted the transformative impact of our research on real-life patients.” 

Albion College prepared senior for challenging internship

A first-generation college student with a keen interest in a healthcare career, Fagun credits the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, along with the Lisa and James Wilson Institute for Medicine, with preparing her for success in programs like JHU’s. Additionally, “my community at Albion, including close friends and classmates, has been an outstanding support system throughout this journey,” she said.

“I thought that if I felt fulfilled from the work that I was doing in just a couple weeks, then I had chosen the right career path,” Fagun said. “I’m just a girl from Lagos, Nigeria, and I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity.”

Aishat Fagun is a senior majoring in biochemistry with minors in ethnic studies and cell and molecular biology and is a member of the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program. She is an executive board member of the Black Student Alliance and the African & Caribbean Student Union. She works for the Office of Campus Life and is an Albion-O mentor and Cutler Center peer tutor for science. Fagun is the child of Oluwatosin Fagun of Houston, Texas, and Sikiru Fagun of Lagos, Nigeria.