Congratulations to Thomas Khairy '20 on the accomplishment of a lifetime! At 15 years of age, Thomas became the youngest ever principal author in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In the article entitled "Infections Associated with Resterilized Pacemakers and Defibrillators", Thomas and his colleagues show that the risk of infection from the implantation of resterilized pacemakers and defibrillators is similar whether the instrument is new or has been sterilized. Since access to pacemakers and defibrillators is problematic in places with limited resources, this finding could be significant for underserved countries. According to Thomas, the goal now is to have more centers like the Montreal Heart Institute resterilize this equipment and send it abroad to where it is needed.
Thomas has been working on this project for several years with the Montreal Heart Institute. This was also the focus of his Secondary 3 Loyola Science Fair project, which allowed for more time to work on the material. Thomas won several awards for his project at the time, including the silver medal at the Canada-Wide Science Fair finals.
Thomas, your hard work and follow-through have really paid off. We couldn't be more proud of you - in all that you do!
