Isabella van der Weide ’23, a pre-med biochemistry major at Muhlenberg, was recently accepted into Harvard Medical School’s Health Sciences and Technology (HST) M.D. program. She will begin her studies in the fall.
“I was interested in the HST M.D. program because the curriculum is uniquely focused on teaching the biological mechanisms underlying health and disease,” says van der Weide, who has been working as a research assistant in the Cepko Lab at Harvard Medical School since graduating. “Learning mechanisms helped me retain information as a student and teach it as a tutor and makes it easier for me to apply my knowledge in my current work as a researcher. I am thrilled to have been offered this opportunity to continue thinking mechanistically as I train to be a physician, a career in which I plan to keep learning, teaching, and synthesizing information.”
Muhlenberg is a place where asking for help has an incredibly high success rate. Experiencing that consistent positive reinforcement as a college student has made me much bolder about reaching out to people now.
At Muhlenberg, van der Weide conducted research in the labs of Professors of Biology Bruce Wightman and Erika Iyengar. She credits Professor of Chemistry Keri Colabroy for teaching her how to analyze scientific papers and Director of Health Professions Advising Cailin Cordon-Waldman for being “an amazing resource and sounding board” while she applied to medical schools.
“Muhlenberg is a place where asking for help has an incredibly high success rate,” van der Weide says. “Experiencing that consistent positive reinforcement as a college student has made me much bolder about reaching out to people now, even in less familiar environments. So many opportunities are the result of one well-written email or polite conversation. It is a great advantage to graduate college having practiced writing those emails and having those conversations.”
