We’re excited to welcome Hailey Reisert to Weill Cornell Medicine! Hailey is the recipient of the Weill Cornell Medical College Student Research Award in Pediatric Neuro-oncology. After finishing her third year of medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Hailey joins the Children's Brain Tumor Project for a dedicated research year studying liquid biopsy development for medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children. After her fellowship, she will return to Einstein for her final year of medical school before applying to neurosurgery residency.
Hailey grew up on Long Island, where years of competitive dance first made her contemplate the body and how it works. She initially planned to become a physical therapist, but a shadowing experience changed her course of study. "I found that my favorite part of those days was learning about the injury or surgery that led the patients to need physical therapy," she says. "It was at that point that I realized I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to manage the injury or perform the surgery."
Studying neuroscience at Duke University introduced her to a lifelong fascination with the brain. "I love how the brain is like outer space or the deep sea," she says. "It’s so vast, and we'll never run out of things to learn about it. We’ll never know it all, even though it's right there in our head."
The Road to Pediatric Neuro-Oncology
At Duke, Hailey's research focused on cognitive development in children. A course in neuroimmunology drew her toward the biological side of neuroscience, leading her to a translational research lab at Yale studying neuroinfectious disease. "We looked at how immune system responses to infectious diseases in the brain contribute to behavior, thinking and emotions," she says. "I had never thought about that before, and I had so much fun in the lab learning about it all."
In medical school, an early course on the biology of cancer revealed striking parallels to the immune principles she had studied at Yale. "When you get down to it, it's all biological pathways and genetics," she says. "Studying cancer is so cool for me, because there's so much opportunity to learn." She joined an oncology research lab at Einstein studying osteosarcoma, where her team investigated whether liquid biopsy — analyzing blood samples for molecular signals — could predict osteosarcoma metastasis or recurrence before a tumor was visible on imaging.
Throughout her clinical year, although she approached each rotation with an open mind and considered specialties like critical care or pediatrics, one conviction kept resurfacing: "I'm going to be a neurosurgeon one day. This is so much fun and feels so right." She began searching for a way to pursue liquid biopsy research within neurosurgery for her research year, and at a conference last fall, Hailey heard Dr. Mark Souweidane mention the Rudin Fellowship. "I reached out, and the pieces just fell together,” she says. “He was saying all the words I wanted to hear — neuro-oncology, kids, liquid biopsy. Together, we came up with the perfect project that combines everything I've been wanting to do." Hailey's research will involve a collaboration between the neurosurgery and research team at the Children's Brain Tumor Project, with Drs. Mark Souweidane and Nadia Dahmane, also in collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield, and the neuro-oncology research team with Drs. David Lyden and Irina Matei.
A Blood Test Instead of a Biopsy
Hailey's project focuses on developing a minimally invasive, blood-based approach to monitor medulloblastoma. Using a preclinical model, she will study extracellular vesicles, particles released by cells into the bloodstream that carry proteins and other molecular information, to identify patterns associated with tumor subtype, disease progression and dissemination. She will also explore whether focused ultrasound can improve the ability to detect tumor-related signals in blood. Ultimately, the work aims to support future clinical tools for earlier detection, improved risk stratification and better long-term outcomes for children with medulloblastoma.
Medulloblastoma has four distinct subtypes, each with a different prognosis and treatment approach. Currently, the only way to tell them apart is through a surgical biopsy. "If we could figure out how to tell the types apart from a blood test, that would be amazing," Hailey explains. "You could start the right treatment earlier and maybe kids wouldn't need two different surgeries."
Hailey is hitting the ground running. She is immersing herself in the culture of Weill Cornell and checking off some career firsts, like working with research mice. She’s enjoying becoming a part of the close-knit neurosurgery community and meeting and learning from leaders in the field.
"I am incredibly honored to be selected for this prestigious fellowship," she says. "I feel very grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from the incredible mentorship team at the Children's Brain Tumor Project, and to contribute to research that may ultimately have a real clinical impact. I can't wait to get started!"
Welcome to Weill Cornell Medicine, Hailey!