About Aya

Hometown:
Watertown, CT

University Partner:
Columbia University

Degree:
B.A. in Biochemistry, 2007

Grant Partner:
Hospital for Special Surgery

Senior Mentor:
Dr. David Altchek, Attending Orthopedic Surgeon

"Being a Steamboat Scholar is both a humbling and empowering experience. Humbling because you are in the presence of other amazing scholars, each with diverse experiences and a different wealth of knowledge. Humbling because your mentor is at the top of a field in which you aspire to succeed. Yet empowering because everyone involved with the Steamboat Foundation believes in your potential and has invested so much to provide you with such an opportunity."

Scholar Background

With a quiet tenacity to excel, Aya was the valedictorian of her high school class and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude and with honors in Biochemistry from Columbia. She conducted research in the Department of Pathology on the differential gene expression in mouse mammary gland tumors due to mutations. Her interest in French culture and desire to gain more experience in a laboratory led her to pursue a research position at the Institut Curie at the University of Paris VI, studying the adaptation of paramecium towards different food conditions and parasitic infection status. Aya’s greatest inspiration comes from her father, who has dedicated his career to giving jobs to those who need them most in South America. Applying this altruism to her own life during college, Aya was a trained advocate for domestic abuse victims at New York Presbyterian Hospital, an intern for The Hunger Project, a Project Health coordinator at the Harlem Community Resource Center, and a volunteer alongside her father at the Hospital de Niños in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Internship Highlight

Shadowing Dr. David Altchek and Dr. Struan Coleman at the Hospital for Special Surgery, Aya witnessed the procedures involved in treating orthopedic ailments, particularly sports-related injuries. In the office, the doctors taught her what to look for in MRIs and X-rays, proper post-operative care and the professionalism required for a healthy doctor-patient relationship. In the operating room, she enjoyed observing complicated procedures such as total knee replacements and ACL reconstructions. Jointly with another hospital intern, Aya presented original research before the HSS orthopedics department on the prevalence of ACL injuries in women vs. men, a thrilling opportunity that she would have found intimidating at the beginning of her Steamboat summer.

Where are they now?

Aya is currently attending Harvard Medical School.