Our New Class: A Snapshot in Diversity

Earlier this week, the MS-RSM program started its fourth academic year with orientation, as we welcomed sixteen new reproductive scientists into the hallowed ranks of the Center for Reproductive Science. Along with being our biggest class yet, this cohort is also our most diverse!

Our students have come from all over the planet, such as Norisha McCaddy, a homegrown Hawaiian from Honolulu, and Hannah Anvari, who interviewed with Dr. Woodruff in the spring from her post as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. We also welcome Noelle Ozimek, who has visited a staggering 30 countries in the last 3 years, and Andjela Dragojevic, who has been to 20 and is a twin (as is Victoria Bakaturski)!

Perhaps most poignantly, the diversity of our incoming class mirrors the diversity of the needs of our field - reproductive sciences pervade every career path: from medicine to policy, from research to art, and from community organizing to education. And our new students come from and aim for every corner of that vast, varied field. While Monica Elabed was instrumental in the founding of a daycare service for children with diverse learning and behavioral requirements, Mackenzie Roberts is a walking library of information about animal reproductive physiology; and while Sarah Khan and Kaylee Massman have a keen interest in oncofertility, Gabrielle Meyman hopes to continue her embryology work and learn more about miscarriages and IVF.

While this week has given us a mere sample of the diversity of our incoming students, it continues to propel us, as we elatedly and excitedly welcome all sixteen of them, to kick off 2019-20 and continue matching the growth and velocity of our ever-expanding field!