ASEP Biannual
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Reflections of a Recent Grad—Britney Wilson ing in a lab in the Environmental Health Sciences Department at the Mailman School of Public Health. This research later turned into my senior thesis, which examined the effects of obesity on exhaled nitric oxide concentrations, a commonly used biomarker for asthma. I would not have been able to spend almost two years on this research project without the gracious financial support from CSTEP and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. Funding from CSTEP also made it possible for me to travel to Kenya to complete a Tropical Biology course that focused on developing and improving students’ field research skills. Britney Wilson in Barnard Commencement May 2012 along side President Obama
Through CSTEP I was exposed to many amazing opportunities one of which was a research internship with AMGEN Scholars. During my junior year I began work-
These numerous research opportunities along with different leadership roles such as serving as a Residential Assistant for three years, being a part of The Network of Pre-medical Students volunteering committee, and my strong academic record resulted in me earning numerous honors during my time at Barnard. I was
awarded the Donald and Nancy Award given to students conducting a biological study or research, the Barnard Leadership Award, and I had the honor of presenting the beloved Sally Chapman with the Barnard Medal of Honor at the May 2012 commencement. Currently I am residing in Boston participating in a Post Baccalaureate Research Program (PREP) at the Molecular Oncology Research Institute at Tufts University. The PREP is a 1-2 year program funded by a federal grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by the Sackler School and is designed to prepare under-represented trainees for leadership in biomedical research and for entry into PhD or MD/PhD programs. My research focuses on differentiation states of basal and luminal breast cancer. I am a volunteering at the Tufts Floating Hospital for Children and mentoring Boston youth and will be applying to MD/PhD programs this summer.
Making Strides on a Global Scale My name is Weyu Hodge and I am a graduating senior at Barnard. During my time here, I’ve had life changing and overall wonderful opportunities. I have always been passionate about service to the community, and wanted to explore that on an international level. I became a Mellon Mays Fellow in spring 2011 and participated in the Esperanza International Inc. internship in Ecuador. These programs allowed me to live in the Amazon for the summer of 2011 with the indigenous Secoya people to gain a better understanding of how oil companies affect community life. After my experience in Ecuador, I was further inspired to live and learn more about indigenous populations in Latin America. In spring 2012, I studied abroad in Bolivia to learn about the preservation of Afro-Bolivian culture
using this material to complete my senior thesis. I hope to highlight oral histories as evidence of a shift in how AfroBolivian identity was defined in the past and how it is defined today. Moving forward, I hope to use public health as a means to educate survivors of trauma and help them overcome their circumstances. What definitely is a constant for me is to work with underserved communities on an international level. I have applied Taken in Secoya Indigenous community- Ecuadorian to the Peace Corps as well as Amazon for a Fulbright Fellowship as a within that community. I was able to means to continue making strides on a record songs and narratives from memglobal scale. bers of this community and I am currently