Hi, my name is Camryn! I graduated from UC Davis in 2021 with my BS in Global Disease Biology. I originally entered college as a biomedical engineering major, but quickly realized that my interests were more aligned with biological and disease focuses. This was how I found GDB, and I was immediately drawn to the major’s emphasis on One Health and breadth of knowledge of disease processes from the cellular to global scale. As I reached my upper division courses, I was able to use the flexibility granted by elective units in GDB to tailor a curriculum of biochemistry, developmental and molecular biology, and genomics classes across many different departments. These electives, along with the core courses, allowed me to explore all of the different subspecialties within biology and apply them to my knowledge of disease to gain a much clearer picture of what I wanted to work on going forward.

During my senior year, I completed my practicum entitled “Optimization of Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy for Heart Failure Management Through Team-Based remote Monitoring” under the guidance of the Complex Care Lab in Cardiology at the UC Davis Medical Center. I was fortunate that the lab had an opening for a Junior Specialist around the time of my graduation, so I was able to continue working on research projects under this position for two years. During this time, I applied for my PhD and found my best fit was with the Integrative Pathobiology program through the School of Veterinary Medicine here at UCD. Through my graduate school course work, I have had the opportunity to learn and work with some of the experts in the field of One Health and even interact with ongoing research that I heard about in classes as an undergraduate, which has been a very cool full circle moment for me. I currently do translational research on diseases affecting the intestines of neonates, which has always been a dream of mine. Graduating with a degree in GDB during a global pandemic was not only incredibly relevant to a current need in the world, but has set me up for success in the best way possible. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions about graduate school or careers in biological research!