What’s Happening
February 2017 Newsletter
- February 2, 2017
- Posted by: Ken
- Category: Uncategorized
The Educational Journey of Laurel Lee
An incredible, 19-year journey for Laurel Lee began in 1998 when at age 16 she and her mother emigrated from Seoul, Korea and Laurel enrolled at Woodinville High School. Today, Dr. Laurel Lee is a Cardiovascular Medicine Fellow at Boston’s prestigious Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Bringing a strong interest in science but with a limited command of English, Laurel proceeded to complete all her high school graduation requirements, aced the SATs in math and became valedictorian of her Woodinville class of 2001. She had spent much of her senior year at the Fred Hutchinson Center in Seattle. Her leadership and service contributions caught the eye of the Woodinville Rotary Club, which awarded her a $3,500 college scholarship.
Laurel was admitted to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall of 2001 where she would pursue a double major in brain and cognitive sciences and in biology. While at MIT, she served as medical coordinator for Mission Honduras, where in the winter of 2003 she helped set up a centralized health care system for orphanages and women’s shelters serving several villages.
At MIT, Laurel made the university’s women’s varsity crew team, competing four years at the NCAA division one level. The national newspaper USA Today selected her one of the 20 smartest college women in the nation, recognizing her intellectual achievement and leadership. Not to be outdone, Glamour magazine selected Laurel and a second MIT student as among the 10 smartest and most glamorous college students in the U.S. They were featured in the October 2004 issue of the magazine.
In the summer of 2004, she was a research student with the National Institute of Health (NIH). MIT described her has an academic superstar and a passionate young woman aiming to change the world with her work.
Laurel graduated in May of 2005 with honors in both degree programs and with the intent to work toward a doctorate in clinical medicine. She was recognized for groundbreaking research in brain and cognitive sciences. Along the way she had studied violin more than 15 years, she told Rotarians during a rare visit home.
The next opportunity came in Oxford, England at age 23 with her selection as one of 32 U.S. college graduates to receive a Rhodes Scholarship to study abroad. She was one of 904 worldwide candidates. Rhodes Scholars are chosen for high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership and physical vigor.
During her years at Oxford, Laurel led a large-scale study of human immune response against the avian influenza virus in the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Her study culminated n a research article in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, of which she was the lead author.
In 2008 she obtained her Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford in immunology in the fields of infectious and tropical diseases. She was accepted that year to the Harvard Medical School
She earned her medical degree in 2012 from Harvard and began Harvard’s two-year general surgery residency program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was an internal medicine resident at Brigham from 2014 until June of 2016 when she became the cardiovascular medicine fellow at the Boston hospital.
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