Kristina
Hultén moved to Houston from Sweden in 1997.
She is Assistant Professor
of Pediatrics at Baylor College of
Medicine, specializing in research to combat pediatric infectious
diseases. She conducts a children’s church choir and has three sons, Jakob,
David and Philip.
What’s your story, Tina?
I was
born near Stockholm in Sweden and I grew up not far from there in Västerås.
I went to a performing arts school from 4th through 9th
grade, and played the piano and sang in choirs.
But I was torn between going into natural sciences and music, so I went
into a natural sciences high school program but did all the music I could with the
performing arts students on the side. My
high school was built in the 1500s and it is one of the very few high schools
that has a cathedral on its school yard which I think is pretty cool.
Then, at
the end of school I was again torn about what to do –sciences or music. I
figured that I didn’t want to be a piano teacher and I really liked analytical
thinking, so I went into the sciences. I
always really loved medicine, and I wanted to do research so I did a PhD in
infectious diseases and clinical microbiology, and as part of that I came over
to Houston. I did a two month fellowship
at the VA for Baylor College of Medicine in my PhD research area, Helicobacter pylori, so they invited me
to come back when I was done.
I had
never been to Texas before I came here for the first time in 1994. I had
thought I really want to go to Paris and speak French, but my husband Thomas
said, “You know, the United States would be fabulous!” So I came here for two months and was just astounded
by how friendly people were and what a great research place I ended up working
at. I really loved it and we decided we
would both come back. I got a grant and
we came back in 1997 for a year to begin with and then we stayed.
I was
married before I came but all my children were born here. Thomas is a trombone player – he plays
classical trombone and jazz trombone and he’s also a composer and
arranger. He works with the Houston
Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet as Principal trombone and then does a bunch
of freelance stuff on the side – jazz, shows, composing and arranging.
I work
with a research group in infectious diseases and with two other researchers, more
senior than I am, who had started two programs before I got here, relating to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. One of the studies is confined to patients at
Texas Children’s Hospital and the other involves eight different children’s
hospitals in the United States. They are
prospective surveillance studies, meaning that we collect isolates and follow epidemiologic
changes over time. We follow changes in antibiotic resistance, we analyze if
there are certain strains associated with certain disease presentations, and so
on.
What we
learn can be used in different ways. In the case of Streptococcus pneumoniae we are interested in knowing what changes
occur after the introduction of a vaccine. After one pediatric vaccine had been
introduced several years ago we and other research groups noticed that a few strains
that were not part of the vaccine became more common and so the vaccine was
improved [by others] and now covers for these strains as well. Now we are
following the changes after the new vaccine is being used. These vaccines have greatly
reduced invasive pneumococcal diseases in children.
With the Staphylococcus
aureus research at Texas Children’s Hospital, the research also involves
epidemiology and resistance surveillance. There is no Staph vaccine in
use, but there are still changes in the types of strains that occur and Staph
germs are very adaptable to new challenges. For example, in the early 2000’s we
observed a quite sudden increase in methicillin resistant Staph aureus
(MRSA) infections in the community, both skin and more severe infections. We hypothesized
there must be a particularly virulent gene, or strain, that caused the severe
infections. Because of our ongoing study, we had the materials necessary to
investigate what was going on in our community here in Houston and we studied a
large number of bacterial isolates in the lab using different methods. We looked
for specific virulence genes and compared if different isolates were genetically
related to each other and we analyzed if there was a difference between strains
from different types of infection.
What we found was that there
was a particular clone that ”moved in” and took over. This clone was the cause
of almost all of the community MRSA infections, regardless of severity. Others
reported the same strain causing adult infections as it spread in many parts of
the United States at the same time. We sequenced one of the isolates together
with scientists at the Genome Center at Baylor College of Medicine to find out
what made this particular strain so successful. While a few genes have been
identified as ”of interest”, there is no easy answer. We, and many other research groups in the
United States, use different methods and approaches to understand better what
makes a Staph germ successful – with the goal of finding better
treatments and reducing or preventing disease.
Is
there an end point to my field of research?
There are smaller parts of the larger issue that have been completed and
that we know, but will there be a day when we completely understand how the
bacteria function and change so we can combat them successfully? There is a lot
of research yet to be done to reach that point when it comes to Staph infections. But the methods and
approaches change as we learn more and as new techniques become available. In
the case of Streptococcus pneumoniae it
is too early to tell after the latest vaccine. The research in infectious diseases at Texas
Children’s Hospital is really important to me, very motivating. I am absolutely
fascinated by the microbes and how they continuously evolve. I think it’s a great area of research – but then
everyone says that about their research interest, don’t they?
What does Houston mean to you?
We’ve
been here for 16 years, so that’s quite a while, and for the most part I feel
at home. When you have had your children
somewhere and raise them there, you get your roots there with the kids. As Europeans coming to the US, we think that
there are so many things that are alike, but then you start realizing the
things that are not alike. Things that
you think would be simple, like figuring out which toothpaste to use, or which laundry
detergent works, because all of a sudden they are not exactly the same. In Sweden, there are ten brands to choose
from and here there are 200! Then there
is the banking system, the social security, the differences in utilities,
schools and healthcare etc. So, there are lots of things to learn. When we
first came, we were struck by the kindness shown to us by people that barely
knew us. One example: when we had our first child, less than a year after our
arrival, my first work place threw us a baby shower. That was just amazing – shockingly
generous to us Swedes. The kindness we
were offered definitely helped us feel at home.
Also what
I think is really neat about Houston are the Arts. I am so proud of how the whole arts community
is growing – just take the quality of the Opera, it is inspiring to read the
program and see all the great ideas. The
Medical Center, it’s the same thing, it’s growing. What I like the best about Houston is that
people want to do the best they can. I
think people work hard but they really have a desire for quality, you see that
in the research area, at Baylor and Texas Children’s, this wish to improve and
I see that in the Arts scene and in other areas too.
What advice would you give to someone new to
the United States?
I believe
you must find places where you feel at home and where you connect. For us, we had connections here already when
we came, a brass player and his wife. He
actually used to be a teacher of one of Thomas’s good friends in Sweden. We had our friend’s sister here too and so
having those connections helped us to get established. Our new friends went to
First Presbyterian Church and invited us to go there. So we went and discovered a Christian
community we could be part of. The big pull back then was the sermons, believe it
or not. But there was also a fabulous choir, which I started singing in, and we
found we had something in common. When
you go somewhere as a newcomer, find people with a common purpose and somewhere
to settle. Of course when you have kids,
school helps you, but the church has been very important for us to get
established and to feel at home.
I still
sing in the choir at First Presbyterian Church and I also lead a 3rd
to 5th grade children’s chorus called the Alleluia Choir. It’s really, really fun – I have three boys in
the choir, otherwise it is mainly formed by girls. They are all great little singers.
Who has been the greatest influence on your
life?
I think
my parents have been very influential in how I approach life. They were always very unselfish and they
always worked really hard but always worked hard for others. They were both teachers first and education
was important to them, but they also worked for the church. They gave up their teaching careers to go
into full time positions – my mom working for a Salvation Army community center
where she helped a tremendous number of people, either immigrants or single
moms on a fixed budget. To see how she
helped them navigate their tragedies and make a difference was very
inspirational to me. You know, in
general, any person who does things for other people, but not for personal gains,
really inspire me.
How to do you find, or seek to find, balance
in your life?
Ha ha!
That’s easy, I don’t have balance! I
think it’s a constant struggle. I would like to spend a lot more time at work,
a lot more time for it to feel meaningful and to let me do what I need to get
done. And I would like to spend a lot
more time with my kids because they are growing up and they are fantastic, and
it is just magical to see them become themselves, to find themselves. They are their own individuals already when
they are born, but to see them discover that personality is really neat. My boys are 15, 12 and almost 11, and of
course I would want to be there with them to see them take every breath. But they certainly don’t need me there all
the time to grow. It is a balance,
right? And it’s good.
I guess
the struggle to find balance is, in itself, a good thing too, if you reflect
upon it, because you have to remind yourself constantly what’s important.
Where is your happy place in Houston?
I have
lots of happy places, but really I carry happy with me. I am happy when I go to
work and I’m happy when I go home to see my kids, and I’m happy with I sit down
in choir and I get to sing. I’m happy when I get to go to the opera and hear a
great performance, and so it continues.
What is your favorite restaurant?
OK, if
people come from Sweden, we want them to go to Pappasito’s because we want them
to have those fajitas, or to Goode Company because they need good Texas
Barbecue. But I like to go to Café
Rabelais because they have great mussels and I like to go with the kids to
Skeeters because I think it’s just so nice and friendly. Otherwise we love to eat at home.
What is your Houston secret?
I try
to make everybody go to the Opera. I know I am repeating myself, but I think we
have a great arts scene here and people aren’t aware of that.
If you could change one thing about Houston
First,
I would end all the senseless shootings. Then, I would make people stop texting
when they drive and become more patient as drivers. I think there is an
intolerance and rudeness about driving in this city, and everybody seems to be
putting themselves first.
Kristina "Tina" is a great gal ! Good Reading about your Life ! As a 10 year old Swexan myself ( 50% Swede / 50 % Texan ) it is nice to read about Texas and Texas will Always have a special Place in my heart. All the best to you and your family - May God continue to richly bless you! Grettings from Lars Sjoberg with Family
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