Sarah Waldis ’16 spent the past two summers working as a student research assistant in Dr. Stella Chou’s hematology-oncology lab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). (Her summer internship last year was funded by Haverford’s KINSC Summer Scholars program.) And now that the biology major has graduated from Haverford she will be working there full time as a research technician.
“I feel like I already have a good understanding of many of the research questions and techniques, and this should allow me to get right back into the swing of things,” she says of returning to the lab where she’s already spent so much time.
Waldis will be studying the role of a specific genetic mutation in promoting pediatric blood disorders and cancers in her new job, which, this time, will extend beyond a 12-week internship. She is inspired not just by the work being done in her lab, but also the research being done across different labs at CHOP.
“It seems like everywhere I turn, whether working in Dr. Chou’s lab or just glancing at flyers posted in the elevators, truly incredible innovation is happening and it is very exciting and motivating to be a part of that,” says Waldis.
She would eventually like to be one of those pediatricians herself, and plans to enter medical school next fall. In the meantime, she wants to learn as much as possible from Dr. Chou and the other CHOP researchers.
Photo by Holden Blanco ’17
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.