The Pulse

Sabrina Pires '24 began her Ph.D. program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in August 2024, shortly after she graduated from Emmanuel. As an undergraduate, she got the opportunity to try out research - even when she wasn't sure if she would pursue it as a career. Without that opportunity, she said she might never have discovered the passion for research that set her on the path to a Ph.D., and her combined majors, neuroscience and biology, proved to be foundational for the next step in her education. "I never feel lost in my classes as it talks through cellular/molecular dynamics to genetic dispositions and behavior models. I feel really prepared despite being one of the younger people in my program," she said.

Keren Santanello '20 is currently enrolled in her Ph.D. program at Harvard University, where she is doing research focused on neuroimmunology. As a first-gen undergraduate and graduate student, she said that pursuing a science degree and aiming for Harvard often felt unattainable - but through her dedication and a foundation of mentorship, research opportunities and access to resources, she is now fully underway on that dream. “The supportive community at Emmanuel gave me the confidence to pursue ambitious goals, and the well-rounded curriculum ensured that I graduated with not just technical expertise, but also the communication and critical thinking skills for a multidisciplinary fields like neuroimmunology," Santanello said.