Rhodes scholarship. “He was passionate about working with children and trying to better understand the disease that affected them.” And despite not being selected as a Rhodes scholar, Esmaili said it was a “tremendous honor and deeply humbling to have been selected and invited to sit for an interview.” He is also grateful to John Glavin, English professor and fellowship secretary at Georgetown. “Glavin and the fellowship process challenged me to do precisely what my undergraduate and medical education at Georgetown have spurred me to do in the past six years: to reflect critically upon my experiences and ask how I can use the knowledge and insights of my education to better engage my community and serve others,” he added. While in Buenos Aires, Esmaili received invaluable firsthand experience about how discoveries in the laboratory are translated to clinical care.
“My experience with patients in the hospitals not
“In Argentina and in my subsequent only furthered my understanding of the disease research pursuits, I have found that the essence of translational research is process, but it directly helped me to refine and directly linking the needs of patients in clinical settings with one's research in the focus my research work in the laboratory.” laboratory,” Esmaili said. “My experience with patients in the hospitals not only furthered my understanding of the disease —Armond Esmaili process, but it directly helped me to refine and focus my research work in the laboratory.” He believes there is no greater learning opportunity than observing the clinical challenges patients face and having the opportunity to ask questions and uncover new findings in the laboratory that may improve their health in the long term.
Committed to Georgetown, Serving Others Esmaili conducted cell biology research under Irusta’s mentorship as an undergraduate that led to a collaborative publication in the journal Cell Cycle, an impressive feat for an undergraduate student. For three summers, he also had the opportunity to serve as a research fellow at National Jewish Health in Denver, the highest-ranked respiratory hospital in the country. “At National Jewish, my work focused on understanding how a particular cell in our immune system can damage lungs in respiratory illnesses and how we can prevent this disease process from occurring,” he said. In summer 2012, Esmaili was a research fellow at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he helped advance the development of a novel therapy that he says “may soon be used in the treatment of pediatric bone cancer.” Although he says he is passionate about scientific discovery in immunology and oncology, he has yet to selected a specialty field. “It is my foremost goal as a future physician to provide care for individual patients,” he explained. “But in addition to clinical care, I also hope to move my research beyond the microscope and examine how health systems can better deliver therapies and prevent illness for patients most in need of care.”
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