Moments

After working as a clinical assistant at Boston Children's Hospital for two years, Hannah Sullivan '22 began working towards her Ph.D. in biostatistics at Boston University. Sullivan went into her Emmanuel journey knowing she wanted to pursue statistics, but said the blend of liberal arts and sciences at the College allowed her to explore different applications of the humanities. Because of that, she graduated having explored a number of topics - like infectious diseases, economics and philosophy - and having visualized the many ways she can use her statistics knowledge in a variety of real-world applications.

Carrie Rodriguez '21 joined the MIT Biology Ph.D. program in 2023 and aims to one day be a professor. From her time at Emmanuel, she lists her humanities-based course load as one of the most crucial takeaways: helping to develop her problem solving and communication skills. “There is inherent value in the humanities,” Rodriguez said, “a scientist without regard to ethics, literature or the broader world is limited in perspective and risks overlooking the societal impact of their work.” Rodriguez began doing research at Emmanuel as a first-year, and eventually won a Goldwater Scholarship in 2020. “The award, made possible by the biology department’s belief in me, opened many doors for me as a young scientist. I remain close to several of my professors from Emmanuel, who I now consider to be lifelong mentors,” Rodriguez said.

Emma Stevens' '22 interest in computational chemistry bloomed at Emmanuel, where she became determined to find a way to combine chemistry and computer science into a career path. Now enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Northeastern University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, she is doing just that. As an undergraduate, she saw Emmanuel's small class sizes as a true advantage, helping her form lasting connections with professors and receiving personalized mentorship. Now it's translated into her Ph.D. program, where she has always felt incredibly prepared. "If anything, my time in graduate school has left me even more impressed with the quality of education I received at Emmanuel," Stevens said.

One of the best decisions Rylie Bolarinho ’22 thinks she made at Emmanuel College was joining Professor of Chemistry Dr. Aren Gerdon’s research group. Not only was it where she discovered her passion for chemistry, but the incredible support from the Chemistry department helped her to flourish as a student. “They knew us and cared about how we were doing. I wasn’t just a name in the classroom,” Bolarinho said. Now at Boston University, her research group uses advanced microscopy to study the chemical fingerprint of diseases. She didn't go into the program with a ton of experience on that specific topic, but said she still had all the tools she needed thanks to her extensive research experience at Emmanuel.

As a neuroscience major and psychology minor at Emmanuel, Sydney Iacoi '20 made sure to follow advice she received from alumni to prioritize research and clinical experience to bolster her resume. Now while enrolled in a clinical psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Rhode Island, Iacoi has since returned to Emmanuel to echo that same advice to current students. A number of those hands-on experiences, like working in a research lab at Harvard University, an internship at a pediatric neuropsychologist's private practice and more helped pave her way toward being accepted into a Ph.D. program. "Through my classes and great mentorship, I was able to gain the knowledge I needed to form my career goals and aspirations," Iacoi said.

For Shane Mitchell '21, one of the most formative experiences he had at Emmanuel College was listening to a talk given by Associate Professor of Biology Anupama Seshan, Ph.D., where he first learned about what it takes to earn a Ph.D. and how to get involved in faculty research on campus. From there, his research at Emmanuel guided his interest in exploring research as a career. "I will always be grateful for being able to attend Emmanuel," Mitchell said, "the class sizes allowed me to get to know the professors and learn more about the paths they had taken to get where they are today – and being able to learn from them gave me invaluable insight on how I would need to proceed to shape my future,” Mitchell said.

By studying worms (C. elegans) the Karagodsky lab - including Maria La Terza '25 (front) and Aiden McCarty '25 (back) - aims to deepen their understanding of how stress and aging impact the body, potentially identifying drug targets to combat age-related diseases like Alzheimer's and Type 2 Diabetes.

Students from the Cabrera lab (from left to right: Jillian Feyler '27, Aaliyah Martinez-Ulloa '26, Arthur Langford '25 and Cynthia Brito '25) observe fruit fly ovaries using the Keyence microscope. The Cabrera lab studies how developmental genes are turned on or off to regulate embryonic development using fruit flies as a model organism.

Using yeast and bacteria as model systems, the Kuehner lab studies cellular stop signals to understand and control the DNA traffic underlying gene expression. Students in the Kuehner lab, Catalina Lujan-Rodriguez '26 (pictured), Lane Couturier '26 and Max Popoloski '26 use molecular modeling of biological molecules like protein and RNA to better understand the chemical interactions that support their function in normal cells or prevent their function in abnormal cells.

In the Deighan lab, Astrid Esperanza Noriega '26 is researching how within E. coli bacteria, proteins are engineered to be exported outside the cells. Proteins that aggregate can be visualized on agar plates, or using microscopy techniques. The research contributes to the molecular understanding of how proteins fold, or mis-fold, with ramifications for many human diseases.
"This summer, I learned a lot about myself with independence and troubleshooting. I've learned the importance of collaboration and being adaptable in situations where the research may not be going well. [And] I had the opportunity to present my research in front of staff members," Noriega said.

Sam Tierney '20 is in the preclinical portion of his education at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University studying anatomy, biochemistry, immunology – and it’s been as engaging and fulfilling as he’d hoped.
Tierney highlighted his writing minor as a huge asset making him a more well-rounded applicant and his humanities coursework in helping him build on his interpersonal skills and social literacy. On top of that, he had the unwavering support of the College of Science & Health faculty in his medical studies.
“The guidance of Dr. Deighan and the HPAC was invaluable - I simply can’t thank the Emmanuel faculty enough for the caliber of education I received there, as well as the personal guidance they offer that is not as common at a lot of larger institutions,” Tierney said.

Katelyn Hunter ’22 is at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Having always wanted to go to dental school, she said it’s been a surreal experience since she started there last July. The transition was smooth for her, not only because she was able to stay in the Boston area, but because Emmanuel’s Biology program prepared her for it. “I never realized how important small class size was, but it really made a difference being able to connect with all my professors,” said Hunter.
Amongst many other things like tutoring and captaining the Women’s Lacrosse Team for two years, she completed a dental-focused thesis project at Emmanuel, which enhanced her medical school application, she said. “Many applicants complete research but aren’t able to put so much time into it or have flexibility with what they want to work on.”