February 23, 2013

Seven Drexel students were offered grants from the Fulbright US Student Program for study, research, or teaching in 2013-14, the most in Drexel history.

Huge congratulations to Seyi Aderotoye (Medicine), Liesl Driver (Global & Int'l Education), Lauren Forbes (Public Health), Liesbet Manders (Creative Arts Therapy), Nick Meyers (Mech Engr), Nathan Taylor (Mech Engr), Sarah Lightfoot Vidal (Materials Sci Engr), and their faculty mentors.

Adefolaseyi (Seyi) Aderotoye
DUCOM, MD '15
Nigeria

Seyi's proposed project aims to determine the cultural and socioeconomic influence on pain management for sickle cell disease (SCD) patients in Nigeria. Of Nigerian descent herself, Seyi plans to use her Fulbright experience to bring together Western and African understandings of sickle cell treatments.

From Washington, DC, Seyi studied Public Health as an undergraduate at the University of Maryland. She focuses on hematology, and received the NIH Heart, Lung, Blood Summer Research Fellowship for work at Case Western's HLB program. Seyi hopes to eventually work in international medical research and policy.

Liesl Driver
Global and International Education, Master's '14
ETA, Brazil

With her special interest in indigenous languages and populations, Liesl looks forward to working as an English language teaching assistant in the culturally rich and diverse country of Brazil. She is also interested in teaching English to local business-people and artisans who are preserving their local culture in a global society.

From Lewisburg, PA, Liesl studied abroad and worked as an English teacher in Mexico. There, she also studied the two indigenous languages Nahuatl and Zapotec after realizing that Mexico's culture cannot be fully understood through the Spanish language alone. She hopes to work at the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages after the ETA in Brazil.

Lauren Forbes
Public Health, MPH '13
Ethiopia

Lauren proposes to work with the Ethiopian Public Health Association on a project to improve reproductive health services for adolescents in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. She will be investigating youth opinions on reproductive health issues and related cultural factors.

From Portland, OR, Lauren has been a student representative to the Maternal and Child Health Working Group while at Drexel. Lauren also spent time in The Gambia through Drexel's weServe program and in South Africa working on preventive healthcare, perinatal and community health projects (advisors: Drs. Suruchi Sood and Shannon Marquez).

Elizabeth (Liesbet) Manders
Creative Arts Therapies, PhD '14
Germany

Liesbet proposes to join a study on autism in Heidelberg, Germany. She plans to investigate if participants in dance/movement therapy can learn to coordinate their body movement with a partner and if this will improve their social interactions.

From Pittsburgh, PA, Liesbet has been working as a dance/movement therapist and mental health professional for several years. She is now pursuing a PhD at Drexel after realizing the lack of sound research evidence in the largely clinical field of dance/movement therapy (advisor: Dr. Sharon Goodill).

Nicholaus Meyers
Mechanical Engineering, PHC, BS/MS '13
Germany

Nick proposes to work at the University of Ulm on a project to characterize the mechanical properties of fracture fixation devices in order to directly compare research results from various fracture healing studies. This project will allow for optimization of fracture fixation devices and ultimately better care for those who suffer a bone fracture.

Originally from Chamblee, GA, Nick studied abroad in the UK while at Drexel and has completed two coops at Synthes, a medical device company. There, he worked alongside Swiss and German engineers and surgeons, which inspired his desire to research overseas. Nick was also a Hess Undergraduate Research Scholar (adv. Dr. Sorin Siegler).

Nathan Taylor
Mechanical Engineering, PhD '15
South Korea

Nathan proposes to use electrical plasma discharge to treat water contaminated with pollution from fuel extraction in conjunction with Kwangwoon University. He hopes to expand his expertise on water treatment techniques by utilizing Kwangwoon's plasma science knowledge.

Originally from Carlisle, PA, Nathan completed his undergraduate degree at Drexel and has been active in the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, working as a judge during ASME's Human Powered Vehicle Challenge and contributing to professional development opportunities for students. Nathan is a research assistant at the A. J. Drexel Plasma Institute (advisors: Drs. Young Cho and Alexander Fridman).

Sarah Lightfoot Vidal
Materials Science and Engineering, BS/MS '13
Chile

Sarah proposes to do research at CIPA's Functional Polymer Department, in conjunction with the Polymers department at the Universidad de Concepción. She will be working on developing a polymer blend of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) for use in the medical field.

Originally from Corvallis, OR, Sarah has been volunteering as an undergraduate researcher at Dr. Michele Marcolongo's Biomaterials Research Group for two years and is a regular contributor to the Journal of Young Investigators.

Alternate

Sean Miller
Biology, BS '11
Sweden

Sean is an alternate for Sweden. He plans to research Alzheimer's disease with world-renowned scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

From Reading, PA, Sean started research in Dr. Aleister Saunder's lab in his first year at Drexel through the STAR program and conducted Alzheimer's research there until he graduated. Since graduating from Drexel, he has been a research assistant at the Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts General Hospital working on the genetic and molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease.