Valley Stream Central student wins science scholarship

A Central High School senior with dreams of becoming a cardiologist was announced the winner of a prestigious national science competition, the school announced last week.

“Katie Mazalkova embodies an initiative we have at Central called ‘grit,’” said Central High School Principal Joseph Pompilio. “Katie worked countless hours that evolved into years on a complex research process that involved hard work, determination and resilience.”

Mazalkova and her research partner, William Crugnola of Jericho High School, won a $30,000 scholarship as part of the annual Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. The pair received the prize, one of 20 given out for the 2014 contest, for their research into new ways to fight cardiovascular disease.

“When we first began our research, we didn’t really know if this would amount to much of anything,” Mazalkova said of the project. “But the more we worked on it, the more we realized that we were working on something exciting, and the project grew from there.”

The pair began their project, titled “Aortic derived mesenchymal stem cells: A novel treatment for atherosclerosis cessation,” during the summer of 2013 with the help of Molloy College biology, chemistry and environmental studies professor Jodi Evans. Evans worked with the young scientists to teach them the building blocks of medical research before moving on to more advanced work.

“When we first started, we were both really inexperienced in a laboratory setting, and we really needed to learn a lot of things,” Mazalkova said. “Professor Evans was really instrumental for us just to figure out how to conduct the research we wanted to.”

The pair continued their work over the summer, when they began conducting their first true experiments. They examined stem cells that were thought to help fight the buildup of plaque in arteries, looking for ways to combat heart disease. The pair discovered that the cells seem to contribute to disease rather than fight it.

“We were looking at cells that were originally seen as treatment, something that can help fight disease,” Mazalkova explained. “As our research went on, however, we realized that the opposite may be the case, that they may be leading to disease and it may be time to change the thinking on these cells.”

Medicine and heart disease has been a long time interest of Mazalkova, who said she was inspired by her mother’s work.

“My mom is a cardiologist, so I’ve been around medicine really my entire life,” she said. “She’s really inspired me. I’ve watched her work in the field my whole life, and it’s been great to see what she does and have that as a model.”

Mazalkova said she hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a cardiologist herself. “I’d like to go into medicine and be able to study the heart, but I’m not exactly sure what I want to focus on yet,” she said. “I do know I want to be able to continue researching and looking at new ways to treat the heart.”

She said she and Crugnola have no plans to stop their research now that they’ve received the Siemen’s award. “We’re planning on showing our research at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, as well as a few other local fairs, as we continue our research and find any new information.”

For Mazalkova, the prize has made a lifelong dream seem like a reality. “When we first started this project, I had no idea what to expect from it, and I certainly didn’t expect to progress this far in such a well known competition, but it’s been a great experience. It really makes my dream of working in that field so much more real — much more tangible and attainable.”