WALKER, TEXAS-BASED SCIENTIST

local researcher is exploring the science of sleep and sepsis in order to improve the lives of people in the Borderland and beyond.

Wendy Walker, Ph.D. and Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Center of Emphasis in Infectious Disease earned a $489,160 grant award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 2022 to study the relationship between sepsis and the sleep quality of hospitalized patients.

Sepsis occurs when an infection causes an inflammatory response throughout the body and can be fatal. According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least 1.7 million adults in the United States develop sepsis each year, with nearly 270,000 sepsis fatalities annually. The CDC also reports that sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. and that one in three people who die in the hospital have sepsis.

Dr. Walker’s study, ‘Goodnight Mouse: Sleep and Sepsis’ is grant-funded for three years and provides roles for graduate students from the Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences who are under Dr. Walker’s expert tutelage.

Approaching nearly a decade in El Paso, Dr. Walker credits her husband with helping her make the life of a scientist and mom possible. The couple joined the community in 2014 when Dr. Walker began her role at TTUHSC-EP. She earned her B.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and completed postdoctoral work training at Imperial College London, as well as Yale University.

The City Magazine sat down with the wonderful Dr. Walker to discuss the art of being a successful scientist.

The City Magazine

What type of research do you focus on?

Dr. Wendy Walker

I do research on sepsis, which is a condition that evolves when a severe infection causes a dysregulated immune response, which leads to organ damage. Often this can occur from a bacterial infection, but it can also occur from a fungal infection or from a viral infection. For example, severe COVID-19 is a form of viral sepsis.

We do research to try to better understand sepsis so that we can develop new treatments for patients. One thing that I do research on is looking at how sleep affects sepsis. Most people are aware that you need a good night’s sleep for good health, but a lot of us don’t get that each night. Then, particularly in the hospital, a lot of people have trouble getting good sleep. This is especially true in the intensive care unit, where patients have to receive 24hour medical care so this can interrupt their sleep. So we’re looking at how that kind of repeated sleep disruption might make sepsis worse. I also do research on COVID-19, where we’re looking at which immune pathways are helpful versus harmful in COVID-19 to see if we can develop new treatments

TCM

The life of a scientist is intense, and you’re also a full person on top of that! What keeps you motivated?

Dr. Walker

It can, obviously, get overwhelming, but I do remain really, really, passionate about what I do with my science. I actually had the opportunity to go into my son’s classroom and talk about being a scientist; that kind of thing renews my own passion for the career. I like when I make a discovery, it’s so exciting for me. Then, also communicating that to younger people, including my mentees in the lab helps me to stay fresh with it. Through careful management of time, combined with having a fantastic husband, who is like the wind beneath my wings and just strongly supports me, which helps me to balance everything.

TCM

What does it feel like when you make a scientific discovery?

Dr. Walker

It is so exciting when either the hypothesis that we’re testing turns out to be true, or conversely, when we discover something unexpected. We can talk about my recent research on COVID-19. This isn’t published yet, but we’re looking at a protein called interferon regulatory factor 3. It’s a protein that helps induce secreted proteins called type 1 interferons. They’re very important in the response to protect people from viruses, but viruses also like to manipulate it – to suppress it.

We found that in bacterial sepsis, it actually plays a harmful role. I wanted to test what would happen with COVID-19. Would it be helpful or would it be harmful? When I was starting to test it, I was really excited to know if it would or wouldn’t have the same effect as in bacterial sepsis. We have data now suggesting that it plays a similar harmful role to what we see with the bacterial sepsis. So that was a really exciting moment for me, that maybe the findings that I had previously might also be applicable for COVID-19.

TCM

What else do you love about your work?

Dr. Walker

I also teach for the Francis Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and we have a master’s program there. I teach and I also mentor students in the lab. And that’s one thing that I’m really, really passionate about. We have obviously a very diverse city here in El Paso and that’s reflected in our student population of the master’s program. Many of our students are also first generation college graduates. Some of them are first generation immigrants, and they’re super smart, and they’re really passionate about pursuing a career in medicine or science. I can be a part of that journey, helping to mentor them, guide them along that path, what do they need to do to pursue that career? I can teach them some of my knowledge and help them get some research experience and I see them become successful. That’s super rewarding to me.

TCM

How can readers better understand the role of scientists in our everyday lives?

Dr. Walker

I want people to understand that science is trying to help people. Not everybody has met a scientist, but we are here in the community. We really want to do research that will help people. We try our best to do the experiments fairly and to evaluate the evidence appropriately so that we can develop new treatments that are effective and safe.

TCM

Do you have any advice for readers interested in pursuing a career as a scientist?

Dr. Walker

Don’t be afraid. Even if nobody in your family has been a doctor or a scientist before -- this is still a career that might be the right choice for you. I want students to know that science is a really creative career actually, contrary to what some people may think. You have to think about what’s known and then try to take a step beyond that into the unknown and imagine what might be a pathway that makes sense -- it’s a very creative process.