Lee Pellegrini摄影
2006年毕业的伊丽莎白·奥戴回到了太阳城网赌平台, this time teaching undergraduates – only one of the many meaningful ways she's advancing science and making a difference.
今年秋天, the former biochemistry major began teaching the weekly elective course Human Metabolism, 疾病 & 创业(HMDE), which aims to provide an understanding of biochemical pathways to human disease, 并学习如何利用这些信息来帮助病人.
Her energy and drive extends well beyond the Merkert Chemistry Center classroom, however.
奥戴是奥拉里斯治疗公司的创始人兼首席执行官, a Cambridge-based venture capital-financed pharmaceutical company that develops "tailor-made" medicines for diseases with little to no treatment options and dismal survival rates. 2013年推出, the company predicts that its technology will fundamentally change how these diseases are treated and diagnosed.
“当我承担一项任务的时候，”马萨诸塞州布伦特里市(Braintree)的马克.“我全力以赴。.”
奥戴在不列颠哥伦比亚省取得了无人能及的成就, 如果有任何, 在其他大学——已经完成了, winning four of the nation's most coveted academic awards for her scientific research: Beckman and Goldwater fellowships; a Winston Churchill Scholarship to study at Cambridge University (in lieu of accepting a Fulbright grant recommendation); and a National Science Foundation Graduate 太阳城官网 Fellowship. 她还获得了不列颠哥伦比亚省最负盛名的本科生荣誉，牧师. 爱德华·H. 芬尼根的.J.,奖.
在BC时, she founded Women in Science and Technology because she and her fellow female scientists saw too many young women repress their science interest due to the "geek" stereotype. WST, 现在进入了第12个年头, has provided more than 600 female high school and college students the opportunity to learn about science careers through a month-long, 周末太阳城官网计划, 讲座, 实地考察旅行, 以及与科学学科导师的会议.
奥戴还抽出时间参加了不列颠哥伦比亚省橄榄球俱乐部的比赛.
今天，奥戴一如既往地忙碌. She serves on the advisory board for Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology, a learning community that provides professional women with the inspiration, 知识, 以及充分发挥潜力的联系.
同时在哈佛大学获得生物医学博士学位, 她创立了Lizzard Fashion, 一个在线, 通过时尚推广科学的环保t恤公司. 利润的一部分用于支持癌症太阳城官网.
In 2010, O 'Day推出了proyeto Chispa (Spark项目), which recycles electronics and uses the resale of parts to build computer centers in Latin American orphanages.
三年前, 她被选为世界经济论坛全球杰出人物, 这是对具有特殊潜力的年轻专业人士的认可, 成就和为社区做出贡献的动力.
“我相信总有一天我们会‘治愈’癌症. 治愈可能意味着彻底根除这种疾病, 但这也可能意味着我们可以用科学来完全管理它. 当有人被诊断出患有癌症, clinicians will be able to identify the most effective treatments for that patient and use tailored medicines to keep that cancer at bay."
她的动力是什么?? 她认为是一位生物学家叔叔点燃了火花, 但当欧戴六岁的时候, her older brother Rob was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and spent two years in successful treatment at Boston's Children's Hospital.
“那段经历确实影响了我，”她回忆道. “我很害怕，还有点生气. 我不明白为什么医生不能让他好起来. I remember being told to pray that Rob’s medication would work; believe me, I did. 然而, 现在, 随着我们对疾病了解的加深, 技术进步, I think we can use science to complement prayer to help patients like my brother.”
O’day, 谁在七年级时就把生物化学确定为她的专业, says she's always been more interested in the prospect of creating drugs than prescribing them as a physician.
“我相信总有一天我们会‘治愈’癌症. 治愈可能意味着彻底根除这种疾病, 但这也可能意味着我们可以用科学来完全管理它,奥戴宣称. “当有人被诊断出患有癌症, clinicians will be able to identify the most effective treatments for that patient and use tailored medicines to keep that cancer at bay.
“We’re also moving into an era of preventative medicine where technology will let us identify disease at its earliest onset, which could allow patients to implement lifestyle changes so that they never even develop the disease. 这是生物技术领域一个激动人心的时刻."
如果她不能自己完成, 她把赌注押在下一代科学家身上, 其中一个或多个可能是她的HMDE班的学生, 哪一项的独特之处在于每次会议都有两位嘉宾发言. Following a lecture on the biochemistry that undergirds and influences conditions and diseases that afflict humans today, 患有特定诊断的病人会分享他或她的故事.
如果她不能自己完成, 她把赌注押在下一代科学家身上, 其中一个或多个可能是她的HMDE班的学生, 哪一项的独特之处在于每次会议都有两位嘉宾发言. Following a lecture on the biochemistry that undergirds and influences conditions and diseases that afflict humans today, 患有特定诊断的病人会分享他或她的故事.
最近一堂课的主角是奥西尔·门多萨, a 22-year-old advocate and fund raiser at the ALS Therapy Development Institute in Cambridge, 质量. 一年前, 门多萨被诊断为ALS(肌萎缩性侧索硬化症)。, the same progressive neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts former BC baseball captain Pete Frates ’07.
门多萨, 不超过班上大多数BC大四学生的两岁, spoke frankly about his life and future with an incurable disease of the brain and spinal cord nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. 学生们明显被感动了.
"Many of these students will eventually work in scientific or medical professions," explains O'Day. "It's important that they not only achieve a deep understanding of the science, but appreciate the application of the science and its potential impact on people. It’s equally important for students to hear about scientific or medical gaps hindering our ability to serve patients; I hope they imagine ways they could fill in those gaps. 这就是为什么几乎每个班级都有客座病人."
Marc Snapper教授, BC大学化学系主任, said O’day is “uniquely qualified” to offer the course: “Her longstanding departmental history, impressive research training and pharmaceutical business experiences all position her well."
A measure of O’day’s growing stature was her invitation to speak last year at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which described her as one of the new leaders for the "fourth industrial revolution." She joined 500 outstanding international female attendees from every segment of public life, including American executives such as Hewlett Packard's Meg Whitman and Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, 以及克里斯蒂娜·拉加德, head of the International Monetary Fund; Kemi Adeosun, 尼日利亚财政部长, 和Fabiola Gianotti, 欧洲核子太阳城官网组织总干事.
在论坛的一篇文章中, O’day是世界经济论坛全球未来生物技术委员会的成员, a 知识 network that provides a forward-looking think tank for the forum – mused on the outlook for what she described as “personalized medicine.”
"In the future, monitoring your health could be like a real-world video game. Future biomarkers will be able to more accurately identify increased risk of stroke or cardiovascular disease, 痴呆的发病, 黄斑变性, 糖尿病, 以及其他健康问题.
“By empowering patients with the ability to access and monitor their own molecular data, 病人可以在控制自己的健康方面处于中心地位."
——phil Gloudemans |《大学传播