Mary Sotiryadis looking to treat painful inflammation through her research

North Shore High School Senior Mary Sotiryadis has been named a finalist in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair for her work in discovering that blocking the thrombin enzyme in blood plasma can help reduce painful inflammation in human joints.

Making a discovery

Getting to work, Sotiryadis harvested cells from a lab mouse’s lymph nodes, as well as some of its blood. She let the cells grow for about a week, filtered the plasma out of the mouse’s blood, treated the cells with plasma and incubated them for 24 hours. She eventually discovered that more plasma often meant more cell death, and that the enzyme thrombin, a clotting agent, was a likely culprit.

In further testing, Sotiryadis blocked thrombin from interacting with cells, and found that cell survival increased, confirming that blocking the enzyme leads to increased cell viability.

Sotiryadis’s work could help in the treatment of painful inflammation. Her grandmother, she said, has rheumatoid arthritis, with painful inflammation. Sotiryadis said that researchers today are searching for a cure, but not necessarily a treatment. That, she said, is why her work could attract the interest of the medical community.

“I’m hoping that what I found there can be improved ways to combat inflammation,” Sotiryadis said, “and to really mitigate what I’ve found is the most difficult and painful symptom of autoimmunity in order to bring patients a sense of relief.”

Becoming an ISEF finalist

Sotiryadis's mentor, Dragos Dasoveanu said the results of her work, as well as her dedication, make Sotiryadis a worthy finalist in the ISEF competition. “It’s one thing to start with an interesting question, and it’s another thing to get some good results,” he said. “She was able to deliver some results, which is huge for someone with not a lot of experience in research in a limited amount of time.”

As proud of her accomplishment as she is, Sotiryadis said she was disappointed that the Regeneron fair finals, which was scheduled for May 10-15 in Anaheim, Calif., was also canceled due to the pandemic. It would have been great, she said, to meet people and make connections, and she was upset that she would not get to experience the Regeneron competition in its entirety, but she was proud to have made it to this point.

“I’m really trying to latch onto that, both the positive and the negative,” she said. “I’m excited that I was able to prove myself through my research, and all of my hard work has paid off. I feel like I’ve legitimized myself.”

“I’m really excited for her,” said NSHS science research teacher Dr. Molly Mordechai. “I wish that would’ve happened for her at a different time, but either way, it’s a really great accomplishment.”

Sotiryadis’s parents, Colleen and Adam, said they were immensely proud of their daughter. Although she won’t be able to celebrate her accomplishments as she would under normal circumstances, they both said her hard work was emblematic of the type of student and person she has become.

Mary said she would likely attend either Notre Dame or Boston College in the fall, and that she was considering a pre-med track. While that could change, she said, she wants to pursue research, no matter what.