Ali McGaw '01, who graduated from Middlebury with a degree in biochemistry, among her other accomplishments, is currently in her third year at Stoney Brook Medical School on Long Island. Her interests are currently in radiology and pediatrics, and she will be applying for residency next year. Though they are two very different fields, Ali finds them both equally enticing. Radiology is no longer based solely on slides and lab work. Nowadays there are some surgical aspects to the field, which Ali would be excited to explore. On the other hand, she loves kids and would welcome the opportunity to practice pediatrics.
While at Middlebury, Ali worked extensively with the PALANA Kids program and involved herself in many aspects of the College community. Jamaican born, Ali had never experienced snow and while at Middlebury learned how to ski, ice skate, and snowshoe. She was a member of many campus organizations including MCAB, PALANA, ALC, and AAA, where she progressed from secretary to vice president before graduating. Ali was also an RA in Ross Commons for two years. Ali feels that Middlebury did a great job preparing her for her post-college life and graduate schooling. The people at Midd laid out "a good timeline for what I needed to do and prepared me well for the challenges I would face in the future."
After graduating, Ali went to study at Duke Medical doing clinical research, where she advised pharmaceutical companies about their products. She was primarily recommending how to proceed with production and distribution, and explaining what reactions occur as a result of the medication. She found this to be very interesting and educational but the highlight of her post Middlebury experience was yet to come. Ali did her Middlebury thesis on Alzhiemers Disease and even got her paper published when it was finished. What is her highlight, you ask? In one of the sessions of the lecture series her paper was actually quoted by the professor.
Ali was a Howard Hughes Research Institute Award recipient in 2003 and spent three months in Jamaica working for a pharmaceutical company focused on AIDS and HIV. She took a survey on what they knew, educated them on what to do when a patient has HIV or AIDS, about the disease, and how to counsel those stricken with the disease. She also worked to break stereotypes the workers had about HIV and AIDS. Ali was able to work very closely with the top HIV researcher in Caribbean, Brendan Bain, during her three-month stay. Said Ali about her experience, "It was the perfect way to give back to my own country before settling down in the U.S."