For the past two years, Maia Sevin ’25 has been leading research on pediatric papilledema alongside neuro-ophthalmologist Dr. Robert Avery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). What began as a summer shadowing opportunity for Maia evolved into a major clinical study—one she helped design, analyze, and present recently at two national conferences.

Pediatric papilledema is a condition where the optic nerve swells due to increased intracranial pressure. This spring, Maia shared her work on the condition at two prestigious events. On March 8, 2025, she gave a seven-minute talk on her research in front of more than 1,000 pediatric ophthalmologists at the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The following week, she presented a research poster at the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society’s annual meeting in Tucson, Arizona.

Maia’s journey to research didn’t start in a lab—it started as a patient. Diagnosed with strabismus and amblyopia at age nine, she had her first eye surgery in fourth grade. After years without issue, her vision began to worsen. “In my sophomore year, I ended up having three additional surgeries to fix that, one in October and two in January,” she explained.

Following her last surgery, Maia reached out to Dr. Avery, a family friend, and asked to shadow him over the summer. “That summer, going into my junior year, I spent time in the clinic observing him. It was really amazing,” she said. That experience opened the door to research. At the end of the summer, Dr. Avery invited Maia to take the lead on a new project investigating whether pediatric papilledema could be diagnosed using MRI alone.

Working with Susannah Tuder, a junior at Yale University, Maia helped develop a system to pull records of patients who had both an eye exam and an MRI within a three-month window in the CHOP system. The initial dataset included over 10,000 MRIs. After narrowing down the results—excluding patients with underlying conditions or past surgeries—they identified about 2,000 eligible cases. Of those, 106 were diagnosed with papilledema.

“This was the first time I’ve done research at this level,” Maia said. “I had to teach myself a lot. I led the data analysis and had to figure out, how do I make sense of this? It involved a lot of critical thinking.”

She credits Friends’ Central with giving her the tools to tackle the challenge. “My statistics teacher, Mr. Paranya, has been incredibly supportive, always answering my questions,” she said. “Being in an environment where my teachers and peers value intellectual curiosity has made a big difference.”

Maia also spoke to the deeper support system she found at school. “I love learning, and I’ve always felt supported here—not just as a student, but as a person,” she said. “The teachers recognize that we’re human. They care about our interests, passions, and ultimately, our future goals.” One teacher in particular, her PreCalc and Calculus teacher, Bill Darling, left a lasting impression. “He’s been a really important part of my life these past four years, and I know I’ll stay in touch with him forever.” 

As she continued her research, Maia’s personal experiences shaped her goals. “I’ve always known I want to work with kids,” she said. “Being a patient helped me see how much I love medicine—and more specifically, pediatric medicine.” She’s currently working on a children’s book to help young patients better understand what to expect during treatment. “I think kids can handle more than we give them credit for. The book is honest about what’s going to happen. It might not be fun, but knowing what to expect can help.”

The results of the study revealed something unexpected: MRI alone may not be sufficient to diagnose papilledema in pediatric patients. “We found that about 16% of patients with papilledema didn’t show any features on an MRI,” Maia explained. “However, more notably, we found that the presentation of one feature is not necessarily indicative of papilledema. Only 35% of patients with one feature on their MRI actually had the condition.” 

“This data is beneficial regarding clinical application because, in adults, MRIs are useful in diagnosis, and currently we are assuming the same thing in pediatric patients,” said Maia. “Our study shows that we can't approach kids in the same way that we do adults.”

Not only was the discovery exciting, but the overall experience was incredibly rewarding. “I’m proud—not just of what I learned, but of how much of it I led. It felt impactful, and it’s something I want to keep doing,” Maia said.

This fall, Maia will head to an undergraduate program she has yet to decide, but, she plans to continue her research. “I definitely hope to keep working with Dr. Avery.” Before diving into college and medicine, she’s taking time to enjoy another passion: “This summer, I’m working at camp, and I’m really excited about it!”