M AC A L E S T E R AC A D E M I C U P DAT E2 0 1 8 FA L L

Pre-MedicineMacalester’s Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) helps students who major in a variety of disciplines prepare for careers in such health-related fields as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, public health, genetic counseling, and nurs-ing. Health profession advisors work individually with students throughout their preparation to assist in planning a program of study that suits each student’s interests and goals. Regular forums and seminars provide informa-tion on careers in health care as well as practical guidance on the preparation and application process.

FacultyLin Aanonsen, O.T. Walter Professor of Biology and director of the Health Professions Advisory Committee, is a neurobiologist who regularly teaches Cell Biology, Human Physiology, various neurobiology courses, and additional new non-majors courses exploring science and spirituality. Her research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms of pain transmission in the spinal cord, and in particular, the molecular changes underlying chronic pain.

Ron Barrett, associate professor of anthropology and a core faculty member for the concentration in Community and Global Health, is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose research has focused on the social aspects of infectious diseases, religious healing, and the ways that human beings come to terms with their mortality. He teaches courses in medical anthropology, cultural and general anthropology, social theory, ethnographic methods, emerging infections, stigma and disabilities, and the anthropology of death and dying. He has conducted fieldwork in Northern and Western India as well as in the United States and is the author of many papers and books.

Devavani Chatterjea, professor of biology, is an immunologist and a founding co-director of the interdisciplinary program in Community and Global Health. She teaches Cell Biology and Immunology as well as public health and research methods courses. Her research focuses on the immune mechanisms underlying inflammatory pain. She actively engages student collaborators in all stages of the research process.

Elizabeth Jansen, assistant professor of biology, is a neuroscientist with expertise in the areas of neural plasticity and neuroprotective drug therapies, and has employed behavioral, neurochemical, and molecular biology techniques in her research on ischemic stroke. She is a core faculty member for the concentration in Community and Global Health and the Neuroscience program. In addition to teaching courses in reproductive biology and neuroscience, she directs the Taylor Health Fellowships, the Winter Mann-Hill Fellowship, and the Mayo Innovation Scholars Program.

Mary Montgomery, associate professor and chair of the Biology Department, is a molecular geneticist who teaches the core course Genetics and upper-level courses Developmental Biology and Research in Molecular Biology. Other recent courses include the advanced-level Seminar in Clinical Genetics and Seminar in Genome Editing. Her research focuses on using the genetic model C. elegans to better understand mechanisms of gene regulation using tools such as RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. A recent grant has funded upgrades for a digital camera and image-capturing software for epifluorescent microscopes in her lab as well as the purchase of a confocal microscope.

Course RequirementsPre-medical students at Macalester may major in any discipline and concurrently complete all pre-medical requirements:

General Chemistry I: Properties and Structure

General Chemistry II: Reactivity, Energetics, Equilibrium

Organic Chemistry I and II

Cell Biology

Genetics

Cell Biology and Genetics Lab

An intermediate-level biology course

Biochemistry

College-level math (Statistics)

Physics: Introductory Physics I and II or Principles of Physics I and II

Two courses in English/Writing

A course in the behavioral sciences (generally Introduction to Psychology or Sociology)

Pre-Medicine

Research and Honors ProjectsMany pre-medical students benefit from collaborative research with a scientist at Macalester or at a research university. Most recently, students have done summer research at Macalester as well as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Mayo Medical School, the University of Minnesota, the University of Arizona, and Washington University.

Gianna Bortoli ’19 (Lake Oswego, Ore.), biology major, conducted research in cardiovascular physiology for the summer in Dr. Mark Anderson’s laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Yacine Diouf ’17 (Dakar, Senegal), biology major, interned at the Minnesota Department of Health in the Injury and Violence Prevention Unit on a health epidemiology project.

Omar Mansour ’16 (Salt, Jordan), biology major, conducted research at University of Pennsylvania on demographic and socioeconomic determinants of adult asthma in the U.S.

Internships and Co-curricular Experiences Nhu Nguyen ’20 (Portland, Ore.), a biology major, secured a Winter Mann-Hill Fellowship to intern at the Alzheimer’s Association Oregon Chapter where she performed outreach work directed towards local minority communities.

Soniya Coutinho ’19 (Plymouth, Minn.), a neuroscience major, and Courtney Popp ’18 (Royalton, Minn.), biology major, worked as health promotions program assistants in the Health and Wellness Center at Macalester.

Chelsea Valdez-Gutiérrez ’19 (Covina, Calif.), a Latin American studies major, obtained funding through the Winter Mann-Hill Fellowship to travel to Puerto Rico to work with a local organization conducting community health surveys following the hurricanes.

Kelsey Porter, ’18 (Roseville, Minn.), biology major, and Li Fan ’18 (Suzhou Jiangsu, China), a chemistry major, as part of a multidisciplinary team, analyzed a novel immunotherapy for cancer that is in development at Mayo Clinic through the Mayo Innovation Scholars Program.

Eleven students received Taylor Summer Health Fellowships to collectively shadow more than 30 clinical health professionals in a variety of settings (e.g., physicians, nurses, arts therapists, midwives, physical therapists) over the summer. Student shadowed professionals in fields including refugee health, oncology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, surgery, alternative therapies, and obstetrics, and worked on research and outreach projects in public health.

After MacalesterAfter graduation, many students attend medical school in their state of residence while others are accepted into private medical schools. Each year, students also begin studying for advanced degrees in other health professions or spend a year or two working in a related field before applying for advanced degrees.

Angel Diaz ’18 (Ridge Park, Ill.) and Tasneem Issa ’18 (Spring Lake Park, Minn.), both biology majors, are clinical research associates at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Veronica Johnson ’18 (Nonthaburi, Thailand), a biology major with added emphasis in neurobiology, is working as a Clinical Research Intern at Regions Hospital in the Critical Care Research Center in Saint Paul.

Nefeli Neamonitaki ’18 (Minnetonka, Minn.), a biology major, is working as a graduate scientist at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in Boston.

Alex Dash ’17 (New York), a biology major, is a clinical research coordinator at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Danny Halloran ’17 (Eden Prairie, Minn.), a biology major, is in his first year at Chicago Medical School at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

Kimber Meyer ’17 (Naperville, Ill.), a biology major, is a post-baccalaureate fellow in immunology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Jamie Progebin ’17 (Washington, D.C.), a biology major, is in his first year at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry.

Maren Bettermann ’16 (Collegeville, Minn.), a biology major, is in her first year of medical school at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Aryeh Blumenreich ’16 (Excelsior, Minn.), a chemistry major with a biochemistry emphasis, is in his third year at Temple University Medical school.

Kira Downey ’16 (Burnsville, Minn.), biology major with neurobiology emphasis, is conducting research in brain cancer immunotherapy at UCSF.

Alison Fisher ’16 (Westborough, Mass.), a biology major, is in her third year of a graduate program in nursing at Columbia University.

Phuong Pham ’16 (Sioux Falls, S.D.), a biology major, is a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Cancer Institute working on the efficacy of potential antiretrovirals in cancer therapy and is currently applying to medical school.

Megan Schermerhorn ’16 (Camas, Wash.), a biology major, is in her first year of medical school at the University of Washington–Seattle.

Cuiyun Yu ’16 (Chaska, Minn.), a biology major, is in her third year of a graduate program in nursing at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.

Updated August 2018

macalester.edu/hpa

macalester.edu/premedicine