Jennifer Koehrsen ’01
Medical Researcher Wants to Better the Human Condition by Kim Schomburg Nagorski ’89
Benjamin Garnett ’06 was named Distinguished Honor Graduate of the Advanced Leaders Course at the Non‑Commissioned Officers (NCO) Academy, U.S. Army School of Music, Little Creek, VA. He is a trumpet player and public affairs NonCommissioned Officer In Charge (NCOIC) for the 100th Army Band and has earned his 9V (vocalist) and C1 rating, the highest proficiency rating an Army musician can achieve. David Hard ’06 was promoted to trust examiner at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Lexington, KY, in March. He earned his master of business administration degree from Columbia Southern University, Orange Beach, AL, in June 2012 and was awarded the Ohio
Distinguished Service Medal after 20 years of service in the Ohio Army National Guard. Lauren Kerekes MBA ’06 was the recipient of the 2012 International Member of the Year Award from the Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI) in Nashville, TN, in November 2012. The award is the highest honor awarded by AWMI; members are nominated and selected by their peers for exemplifying the association’s goals of education, mentoring, networking and growth. Nick Kiger ’06 is the donor relations director for The Salvation Army in central Ohio. Jon Jurgens ’07 sang La donna e mobile from Rigoletto with
and guide others as I was guided.” In fact, Koehrsen’s responsibilities include overseeing the investigators and their work. She helps new researchers learn how to keep proper documentation and to follow regulations, and she ensures that all researchers are treating patients ethically. “Our patients are doing us a favor by enrolling in these trials,” she explains. “They never have to enroll in a study. We owe it to them to make sure they are being treated ethically. I focus on that with the physicians.” Although she has always been interested in the behavior of individuals and how it is influenced by external factors, she particularly enjoys working in the medical field. “In medicine, you see more definitive results, discover any side effects and potential benefits,” she noted. “You get to know the patients and develop relationships. I like contributing to bettering their situations, especially oncology patients. I want to help in any way that I can to develop new treatments to end suffering and to better the human condition in general.” the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in July. Mike Griffin ’08 is the director of major gifts at Wright State University’s Medical School, Dayton, OH. Peter Sichko ’08 is a senior RF/Inter-com technician for Maryland Sound International (MSI), a live audio production company in the Washington, D.C., area. He assisted with all aspects of the presidential inauguration at the Capitol last January, primarily responsible for the RF/Inter-com for the ceremony. Jillian Van Auken ’08 is coordinator for student activities at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She published an article in the
April issue of Campus Activities Programming, a publication of the National Association for Campus Activities, entitled “Building Effective Partnerships in Programming.” In 2011-12, she was named advisor of the year at IUPUI. She received her master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Miami University, Oxford, OH, where she was outstanding graduate advisor in 2009-10. Lindsay Draper Marks ’09 was promoted to team lead officer for Huntington Banks, Columbus. Micaela Coleman ’10 is the legislative correspondent/press assistant to Congresswoman Joyce Beatty OH‑03 in Washington, D.C.
O tte r b e in To w e r s | Fall 2013 |
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Profile
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it has drawn Jennifer Koehrsen ’01 into a career she didn’t even know existed until she attended Otterbein. As a psychology major at Otterbein, she began helping with research studies early in her freshman year. After receiving a master’s degree in social psychology from Ohio University, she continued in research but decided to move into the medical field, which she finds “much more cut and dry, not as theoretical.” According to Koehrsen, her professors at Otterbein prepared her well for her current position as administrative director of interdisciplinary research and education at the Allegheny Singer Research Institute in Pittsburgh. “I was surprised to learn upon entering the medical field that residents and physicians are expected to do research but they often aren’t taught how,” she comments. “I turned out to be very well prepared for this path and as such, I’m able to teach