A rare peak into the advancement of modern medicine for rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, the annual Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine was held at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. at the start of this summer. Khyra Gambrell, a 16-year-old Kingsport native and sophomore at Dobyns-Bennett High School, was one of 240 international students in attendance.

“Twenty-two countries were represented,” Gambrell confirmed. “I was one of three from Tennessee.”

Gambrell, who holds a 4.1 GPA and is enrolled in A.P. and Honors courses in math, science, history and English, was contacted by the summit’s administration via email in March and encouraged to apply for their seven-day program. After researching the summit, the young biology enthusiast sought recommendations from school counselors and teachers and submitted an application.

“I was accepted,” Gambrell said smiling.

Also a member of D-B’s track team and a part-time Pal’s employee, Gambrell credits her invitation to the Global Youth Summit not only to her academic and extracurricular activities, but to the programs and services made available to her through Help Our Potential Evolve (H.O.P.E.), for which she currently serves as youth president.

H.O.P.E., a community-fueled, non-profit organization founded by Stella Robinette in 2008, gives hardworking area students the tools and training to become productive adult citizens. “Our mission is: ‘connecting community resources to help youth (aged 12-18) achieve their goals for education, career and service,’” Robinette explained. “[The students’] main goal and focus is education and going on to higher education and becoming successful.”

H.O.P.E. members frequently job shadow in the community and take part in educational and life skill classes like CPR, banking, etiquette and “Dress for Success.” Students of H.O.P.E. are also heavily involved in volunteerism, both regionally and while on ‘mission’ educational trips, like their upcoming trip to New Orleans in October.

Gambrell said that she joined H.O.P.E. her freshman year after attending a Girls Inc. event where she spoke with Robinette about the program. By the summer of 2014, she had forged a bond with the other members and they voted her in as youth president.

Gambrell, who is also youth president of the Tri-Cities NAACP and active in her church, Powerful New Life Church Of God In Christ, said the character-building experiences provided to her through H.O.P.E. - along with the monetary and emotional support of the community for which she is very grateful - prepared and enabled her to participate in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine from June 21-27.

The young multi-tasker was excited, yet apprehensive, about the plane ride to the summit. “I was kind of nervous actually because I’ve never flown before,” Gambrell admitted. “But, it was okay once I arrived.”

Gambrell said her days at Brandeis for the Global Youth Summit began around 6 a.m. with breakfast, followed by her favorite part of the seminar: lectures given by keynote speakers.

There were several pioneers of the medical field who came to speak, but only a few who really spoke to the interests of Gambrell.

The first was Bohdan Pomahac, M.D., the Czech plastic surgeon credited with performing the first successful full-face transplant in the U.S. Pomahac has since performed several successful face transplants, and a successful bilateral arm transplant. Gambrell excitedly informed that the patient’s arms are fully functional, allowing him to play the piano again.

The second was Vanessa Kerry, M.D., the daughter of Secretary of State John Kerry, who is a strong advocate for people living in third world countries. Lastly, there was Harald C. Ott, M.D., who discussed his successful studies in using stem cells (outside the body) to regenerate new organs - a heart, liver, lung, kidney and pancreas so far; laying the groundwork for organ regeneration to become the solution for patients needing a transplant.

“It was very inspiring,” Gambrell said. “Giving back is what healthcare is all about.”

In addition to learning about exciting medical breakthroughs, Global Summit students were divided into groups of 15 for the entirety of the week to plan their own S21 (solutions for the 21st Century) project. Gambrell’s group, called “Mackinnon,” came up with a solution to drowsy driving, which included an “alacer” or “awake” method utilizing an arm or head band to measure brain waves, temperature, etc., and to alert the wearer if the registered levels are dangerous. The group made it to the final four in the judging process.

“I made a lot of friendships with people up there,” Gambrell said thankfully. “[The Global Youth Summit] was a great experience to be around other teenagers that share the same passions as me... It’s definitely an experience I will never forget; it helped me decide what I want to go into in medicine.”

Gambrell plans to major in cellular and molecular biology at a college of her future choosing, and then to continue her studies at Harvard Medical School.

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