Falmouth high school student publishes research on women’s health in medical journal

Hanna Ajemian knew that witnessing childbirth up close was a defining moment.

While observing the labor and delivery team at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia the summer before her freshman year at Falmouth High School, she saw eight women give birth — even holding some patients’ legs as they pushed while their husbands passed out in the background.

“I knew that would kind of be the test of whether I could handle it or not, honestly. I could and I loved it,” Ajemian said. “I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever.'”

Today, at 17, she is the lead author of an article published in a medical journal advancing the field of women’s health.

Ajemian became involved in obstetric research with Lisa Levine, chief of maternal-fetal medicine at Penn Medicine. Under Levine’s mentorship and guidance from Falmouth High School teachers, during his junior year, Ajemian analyzed data previously collected by the University of Pennsylvania. The dataset examined the link between hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, and women developing chronic hypertension 10 years later.

After a year of analyzing, writing and revising more than a dozen drafts, Ajemian had his study published this fall in the “American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Maternal-Fetal Medicine” as lead author. As the high school senior waits for news about early college admissions, she answered a few questions about her passion for the field of women’s health and what’s next.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

When did your interest in science and research begin?

I have always loved science. It’s always been a part of me and I always knew it was something I wanted to do in the future.

In my first year, I interned at a women’s health startup in Ethiopia, and that’s what piqued my interest specifically in women’s health and really made me understand the importance of this field and where it can go in the future – and how we need more people to participate in it.

Now you are making an impact in this area with a publication. Could you explain the results of your research?

The two main findings were that the severity of preeclampsia (a serious complication of high blood pressure during pregnancy) was somehow irrelevant to the later development of chronic hypertension (defined as long-term high blood pressure, which increases health risk), which was really interesting because you would think that the more severe the preeclampsia, the higher the risk later in life.

The other was that recurrence is a determining factor… For each pregnancy complicated by a hypertensive disorder, the risk of developing chronic hypertension later in life increased by 35%.

This is really good to know because we have strategies in women’s health to prevent and treat preeclampsia. So if we know that, for example, severity is sort of (irrelevant), we’re not giving women false information and saying, “Oh, you just had mild preeclampsia, you’re probably fine, don’t worry.”

You are clearly passionate about the topic of women’s health. What’s next for you?

I think I will absolutely do something for women’s health in the future. And I know it’s a little early to say this, but I think I’m right to say it because I’ve already been so exposed to it and I know I love it.

My goal is to become an OB/GYN, but this research has definitely inspired me to become a physician scientist, which I didn’t know was an option. I kind of thought you had to pick one.

Working face to face with people is so important. But ultimately, the way we progress as a medical field comes from research, from discovering new things and finding new strategies and ways to treat things. Doctors cannot treat disorders about which we know nothing.

Besides now knowing that you can watch someone give birth without passing out, what else have you learned about yourself from this research?

You don’t have to wait until you’re older, have a degree, or are in some sort of position of authority to contribute meaningfully to something you care about, and that you can be curious and…really take initiative.

I don’t think (age or experience) should stop you from trying to go out and do something you care about.