Moments

Madison Webber ’23, has begun her studies at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, where she said she’s realized just how much potential she and her colleagues have to make a lasting impact on the world around them.
From the minute she started at Emmanuel, Webber got fully immersed in research. Since she got her start so quickly, Webber was able to apply to med school by her junior year, preparing her for the rigor of medical school and setting her apart from others, “which has been invaluable,” she said.
“The faculty of the biology and chemistry departments were instrumental in providing personalized mentorship and support. I was always shown encouragement and genuine interest in my success,” said Webber.

Pietra Oelke ’21 has spent the last seven months with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, where she said she has settled in nicely to a tight-knit community. Upon reflection, Oelke said she recognizes the value of a liberal arts education for those who are pursuing medicine.
“Emmanuel’s strong STEM program equipped me with foundational knowledge that I use and build upon daily. Delving into courses outside of my biology major, like philosophy, exposed me to different perspectives that have been invaluable as I learn to care for others,” said Oelke.
Navigating college and the complex process of becoming a physician was a challenge, Oelke added, but building relationships with Emmanuel faculty like Dr. Seshan was instrumental in her journey: “I attribute much of my success in the medical school application process to the support I received at Emmanuel,” she said, “I felt they [faculty] genuinely cared for me and were rooting for my success.”

Post-graduation, Allison Carroll ’19 went into translational cancer research at MIT, cementing her goal to work in cancer research in the future as well. Carroll went from Boston to Brooklyn for her medical school and is fully immersed at the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine.
What stood out to Carroll in her Emmanuel experience was the small class size, which led to more individualized mentorship: “this level of attention is something not many students have access to, and I cannot express enough how much I appreciate that.”
Her relationships with her professors, like mentors Dr. Karagodsky and Dr. Kuehner are ones that she keeps to this day. “The professors at Emmanuel believed in me and motivated me to try new things and reach for new opportunities. Their guidance helped me achieve my goal,” said Carroll.

Haley Connelly ’19 said there are few cities that beat Boston when it comes to learning medicine. Now in the School of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University in Arizona, she credits her undergraduate experience with helping her come out of her shell.
She said it’s been fun to take all that she’s learned in her academic career and apply it, and she’s constantly adapting her style to do what works best for her. At Emmanuel, Connelly said she appreciated always having someone to answer the many questions that pop up while aspiring towards a medical career.
“Applying to medical school is draining, we all know that! What’s great about the HPAC is that you don’t have to do it alone. They are there for anything and everything,” said Connelly.

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.