Jordan: GROW Internship and Research at the Penn Museum

Hey GlobeMed!

Hope you’re all doing great, and ready to start back up again!

This past summer has been a great time for me to explore my passions, recenter myself, and take a much-needed break from school.

I spent the first month of my summer as a GROW intern working with CHOICE Humanitarian, a global development NGO targeting extreme poverty in Piura, Peru. There, with Alea and Catherine, we worked alongside the CHOICE staff in developing and implementing initiatives focused on childhood nutrition and community health. Everyday, we would visit local communities with the CHOICE staff, with tasks ranging from teaching maternal nutrition classes at a small church to constructing sustainable bio-gardens in local schools. This was easily one of the most impactful and meaningful experiences I've had. Beyond strengthening my personal passion for global health, we gained an invaluable glimpse into how global health is being promoted and championed at the front lines.

When I came back from Peru, I began my PURM internship as an undergraduate researcher at Penn's Biocultural Anthropology Methods Lab (BAMLab), located in the Penn Museum. The overarching goal of the BAMLab is to explore the myriad ways by which society and culture can influence our health on a cellular and physiological level. There, I focus on using molecular biology and biomarkers towards enhancing our global health research projects. The two projects I worked on this summer included: 1) using inflammatory proteins (e.g. C-Reactive Protein) to examine stress response pathways following traumatic psychosocial events, and 2) analyzing biomarkers of systemic and enteric inflammation in a rural Peruvian community (near Machu Picchu) as a model for how social adversity can influence chronic disease development. For me, it's the perfect synthesis of my interests in biochemistry and global health! Plus, I got to hang out with GlobeMed co-president Zoe Belardo, which was pretty cool.

Lastly, this summer I got to explore Philly’s amazing food scene and make some great friends. Sure, I’ve probably eaten too much halal chicken over rice, and definitely more than my fair share of falafel from Goldie (so damn good). But hey, no ragrets.

See you all soon!

J. Liu