Spotlight

I sought out to attain my Masters in Biomedical Sciences in efforts to strengthen my science background and enhance my application to medical school. During my time in the graduate program I’ve had numerous opportunities that have enriched my overall experience beyond attaining the degree (which is still amazing).

From the start of my program back in 2017 until now, I’ve been a part of the Odarah Outreach Program for high school students of Newark namely “Project Beam”. Through this program, we help provide health education regarding the prevalence, incidence, pathophysiology and presentation of different diseases to improve health literacy amongst the students as well as serving as mentors. It has been a pleasure serving on the team and truly rewarding to know that we are making a difference in our community. It always helps to have someone to look up to on the journey of becoming. It can be tough because life can pull you in so many directions but just knowing that you have support that can propel you forward is comforting.

In January 2018, I was able to join the Global Brigades in their initiative to serve the communities of Nicaragua. We packed and distributed medications, built sanitation systems, took vital signs, and even had firsthand experience with shadowing doctors and observing the patient interaction as well as diagnosis. The only other international trip I had taken was to my home country, Nigeria, back in 2003. Therefore, this was an eye-opener in seeing the similarities between the two countries- despite the 15 year difference. It was humbling to see how intentional the natives were in seeking out healthcare and obtaining it at all odds (some had walked several miles to our triage). Nonetheless, it was fulfilling to know that we were able to provide free basic healthcare to over 800 people. I was also inspired upon the realization that I can contribute to the advancements of healthcare on a global level.

Lastly, I was able to conduct research with the New Jersey Autism Study, I was able to contribute to the data that observes 8 year old children in 4 counties in the state which include: Essex, Hudson, Union, and Ocean City. The Autism surveillance study done in New Jersey is amongst the only ones trying to do studies on these children every two years. The overall goal of the study is to have a better grasp of the causative factors that align with proper diagnosis of ASD at early ages. In fact, the New Jersey Autism study is currently pushing boundaries by looking at younger ages of children at 4 years old. There is a special pilot going on to explore whether information that is provided at 4 years old is different from what is gathered at the age of 8. Concurrently, 16 year olds are being studied to provide insight to the prevalence of autism, phenomenon, how it changes, etc. I was fortunate enough to contribute to 3 of the abstracts for papers that have been approved for publishing that highlight the data we have been able to collect along with their diagnostic findings thus far. We hope to continue finding the relationships that exist between the qualitative and quantitative data in efforts to bridge the gap between ASD heterogeneity and proper diagnosis earlier on in life.