Sam Li

“From research, I appreciate the human body a lot more. I can understand amazing things, and seeing the complexity that is actually happening in the machine that keeps us alive is really spectacular for me. Research has changed my perspective on problems — now, I’m more confident that I can go in and figure stuff out along the way. I don’t have to hesitate or be afraid of certain problems or challenges,” Terry Xie (’26) said.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, but Terry Xie (‘26) doesn’t need a multi-million dollar wet lab or a team of mentors to tackle it. As he sits alone in his room, Terry runs a machine learning algorithm. Lines of data flood his screen, the results confirming what he had spent years trying to prove: His model could successfully predict heart disease using the gut microbiome.

“The best part of research is seeing the results actually happening because that’s when you know that all your hard work has paid off,” Terry said. “If you don’t have a mentor or access to a lab, you don’t have a lot of resources or expertise available. That was a big challenge for me — figuring out what I need to do and how I do it with what I have at home.”

Terry’s fascination with biology began in middle school, but by the end of his sophomore year, he wanted to pursue the subject outside of class. Because he was a high schooler working independently from home, Terry faced a major constraint: He lacked the resources and physical access to conduct experiments in a traditional wet lab. To overcome this hurdle, he pivoted to bioinformatics, teaching himself the necessary Python libraries to build machine learning algorithms directly on his computer.

He was specifically drawn to exploring the link between the gut microbiome and cardiovascular disease because the connection felt counterintuitive to him and offered a unique challenge to unravel. After years of independent work and honing this model, he ultimately presented his findings at the International Conference on Machine and Computing Intelligence.

“That was really a big, inspiring moment for me because it showed the potential of what I was actually doing,” Terry said. “These models can find these really complicated relationships and then, more importantly, use those relationships to have some benefit on human health.”

This philosophy of exploring new topics and diving into uncharted waters directly influences Terry’s life outside of science. Seeking a new activity in the spring of eighth grade, he joined the water polo team. There, the demanding pace of the sport immediately hooked him, and over the next four years, the sport became the grounds for his mental endurance. Terry flows between various positions on the varsity water polo team, each requiring a different set of skills and requirements.

“Being able to adapt to what each position demands and then, from those positions, contribute as much as possible to the team’s overall success was a big part of my contributions,” Terry said. “There’s definitely some influence from research into that adaptability and being able to figure out things on the go.”

Water polo coach and math teacher Victor Adler appreciates Terry’s flexibility and work ethic.

“The thing about Terry is you don’t have to tell Terry how to do something twice,” Adler said. “He’s sharp, so you tell him, ‘This is what we need to do,’ and Terry does it. He came on as a freshman for water polo and developed as a leader on JV and then contributed on varsity. It’s been fun for me to work with him both in the classroom and in the pool.”

The physical demands of water polo mirror the trial-and-error routines of his algorithms. Terry has learned the importance of perseverance, whether through debugging a challenging block of code or pushing himself in the final few minutes of a close match.

“Water polo is probably one of the hardest sports out there,” Terry Xie. “It really demands a lot out of you and your body, but the biggest thing is mentality. If you go into a game or go into a play already given up, then you’re definitely not gonna get the ball. You have to keep pushing yourself continuously.”

Close friend Stanley Chen (’26) has known Terry since sixth grade and is thankful for his genuine friendship and dependability.

“He’s one of the most genuine people I know,” Stanley said. “He’s always very locked in, doing the work in class when he was supposed to. In his interactions with me I can tell that he’s very social and he really likes talking with others. He was one of my first friends at Harker, and he’s definitely grown as a person I can count on.”

That dependability resonates with other peers as well, both in and out of the classroom. Kairui Sun (’26), who is currently organizing a senior trip to Japan with Terry, appreciates his grounding presence and meticulous attention to detail.

“One of the things I admire most about Terry is how consistent and calm he is,” Kairui said. “It’s impossible to be sad around him. He can be a consistent source of laughter, but he’s also consistent in terms of focus. Whenever he takes on a task, he does it all the way through.”

Looking ahead, Terry plans to continue his research in college labs, with the long-term goal of becoming a doctor. Armed with a profound appreciation for the complexity of human biology, he plans to approach future medical challenges with the same fearless problem-solving he cultivated on his computer.

“From research, I appreciate the human body a lot more,” Terry said. “I can understand amazing things, and seeing the complexity that is actually happening in the machine that keeps us alive is really spectacular for me. Research has changed my perspective on problems — now, I’m more confident that I can go in and figure stuff out along the way. I don’t have to hesitate or be afraid of certain problems or challenges.”