Featured Alumni

My introduction to biomedical research came by chance when I took a work study job as a Microbiology Lab tech at my alma mater, Brooklyn College, in my Freshman year. I had just moved permanently from my childhood home in Dominica, and needed a source of income to cover my bills. 

Over time, what started out solely as a means of establishing and maintaining my financial stability, began to captivate me. I enjoyed going to work - preparing agar plates and bacterial cultures. I sought out opportunities to do tasks beyond my job requirements. Soon enough, my supervisor - who was a former researcher himself and noticing my enthusiasm - recommended I try my hand at being a research assistant. During my search, I applied and was accepted to the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program at BC which served as a pipeline to my first real research experience: studying Cryptococcal Meningitis at Rutgers University in the summer of 2017. I attended and presented this work at my first national conference, the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), later that year. At that point, there was no turning back. The zeal I obtained from conducting and communicating biomedical research was insurmountable. Bolstered by my fascination with STEM research, I applied to another summer internship and, the following summer, conducted Inflammatory Bowel Disease research at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. I presented this work as an oral presentation at ABRCMS later that year. Following this experience, RISE encouraged me apply to their nationally recognized NIH-funded sister program, the Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program. Once I became a MARC Fellow and was equipped with the basic professional skills necessary to excel in a laboratory environment, I desired a more long-term research experience. Thus, I joined a biophysics lab at BC where I conducted Type IV pili research in Vibrio cholera for almost 2 years, until I graduated in September of 2019. My work ethic during this experience was motivated by none other than the promise of scientific discovery fueled by scientific inquiry. My naive curiosity obliged me to always go the extra mile. As a result, I managed to get a paper published from the work I conducted there.

Immediately after graduating BC, I began a Post-Baccalaureate Research Program (PREP) at Tufts University School of Medicine, investigating Invasive Candidiasis. Though the appointment was 2 years, even before beginning the program, I was determined to complete it in 1. A year later, it has been the longest independent research project I've worked on, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the outcome. I can definitively say that the PREP program has provided me with an authentic research experience and put me ahead of the curve as an incoming graduate student. By that token, I am excited to announce that I will be pursuing my PhD in Biomedical Sciences (with a concentration in Microbiology and Immunology) at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine this Fall 2020. It's been a long, perhaps winding road, but I owe all my successes to my many support systems over the years: RISE, MARC, several PI's and mentors as well as family and friends for keeping me sane.

Cheers to a new academic challenge!