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Four years ago when Jeannie Nguyen began her studies at the University of Washington, she began contemplating what activities she really enjoyed, namely science, working with children, and, above all, helping others. These combined interests inspired her to pursue a career in pediatric medicine. Currently Jeannie is a double major in neurobiology and biochemistry and a minor in chemistry with plans to graduate in Spring 2008. This past summer she applied for admission to MD/PhD programs at the UW, Johns Hopkins, and several other universities across the country, the next step in her pursuit.
Jeannie is the first in her family to attend college, an opportunity that she has captured and truly made her own. For the past three years she has worked in the lab of Dr. Wendy Raskind in the UW Department of Medicine: Division of Medical Genetics. In Dr. Raskind’s lab, Jeannie works with Dr. Dong-Hui Chen on a project studying the molecular mechanisms involved in Spinocerebellar Ataxia-14 (SCA-14), a debilitating congenital neurodegenerative disease that results in the loss of the ability to coordinate muscular movement. Currently Dr. Raskind’s lab knows which genetic mutations cause SCA-14, but not exactly how the proteins involved produce the disease symptoms. This is the mystery that Dr. Raskind’s lab is presently working to unravel and the science that has inspired Jeannie to continue disease research after she graduates.
Aside from working in a lab, Jeannie has also participated in a couple of study abroad programs through the UW. The first, in the summer of 2006, was a month-long exploration seminar in Italy. The purpose of the seminar was to compare the healthcare systems of Italy and the U.S. and to learn some Italian culture and language at the same time. Italy is an interesting country for questions regarding human health because Italians have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. Additionally, the country has a universal health care system, which the students evaluated for its potential feasibility in the U.S. Though what’s likely more important than a universal health care system in promoting longevity, Jeannie learned, is the Italian culture, which differs vastly from America’s with its regard to diet and exercise.
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In stark contrast to Italy, Jeannie next spent a quarter in Ecuador studying public health, traditional medicine, and Spanish. While there Jeannie immersed herself in the culture by living with an Ecuadorian family for the entire quarter. The public health issues in Ecuador are significantly different from those in Italy: Malaria, Chagas' disease, and dengue fever are among the chief health concerns of Ecuadorians. In light of the serious problem posed by these diseases, Ecuador has its own version of universal health care, which consists of a national eradication program, Servicio Nacional de Eradicación de la Malaria (National Service of the Eradication of Malaria), that offers free fumigation in homes of the poorest towns.
Next summer, after she graduates, Jeannie hopes to visit Vietnam. Jeannie’s parents immigrated to America from Vietnam but she has visited the country only once. However, she doesn’t plan to have just a long vacation visiting relatives before starting graduate school; she plans to continue her studies of culture and public health and practice speaking Vietnamese, as well.
What’s evident from Jeannie’s extensive travels and extracurricular activities (aside from being involved in undergraduate research, Jeannie is an active member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, a pre-med honor society, Golden Key International Honour Society, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, and Students for Equal Health, a club she helped found, to name just a few) is her particular passion for international health care, which is so strong, in fact, that she plans to open a sustainable health clinic in a developing country such as Vietnam someday. The sustainable part, she explains, has to do with training local people in triage and treatment of minor medical problems. This would prevent the clinic from being wholly dependent on foreign doctors or nurses to operate it and at risk for closure if foreign workers decided to return home.
It’s apparent when you meet her that if anyone could succeed in fulfilling such lofty ambitions, it’s Jeannie. Her obvious and contagious enthusiasm could lead to nothing but success.
This past spring the Department of Biology was pleased to be able to support Jeannie in her endeavors by awarding her a Porath/Johnson Scholarship. The endowment that supports this scholarship was established by UW alumni Harold Porath and the late Thomas Johnson to support Department of Biology undergraduates. If you would like to support Biology undergraduates by contributing to this endowment, please fill out the gift form on the last page of this newsletter and specify that you would like to contribute to the Porath/Johnson Endowment, or please feel free to call (206) 685.2185 for more details.