Department of Preprofessional Studies

The first recipient is Constance Chen. She is a Science Preprofessional Studies major with a minor in Chinese Language and Literature. She and her family are from Rochester, Minnesota. In addition to her academic success, she’s developed a strong clinical, service, research and leadership background, including clinical shadowing in the oncology department of the hospital in Beijing, volunteering in hospice settings in Rochester and South Bend, pursuing an internship with a technology firm in St. Paul at the height of the pandemic, assisting with the creation of an automated system detecting COVID antibody in blood, participating in translational research through the Mayo Clinic's summer undergraduate research program, investigating the causes of vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia. She also pursued service and leadership opportunities through her dorm, Badin Hall, and the Notre Dame Chorale. She will be attending the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in the fall.

 

The second recipient is Sarah Chong. Sarah is a Science Preprofessional major, a member of the Glynn Family Honors Program, pursuing a supplementary major in Russian language, literature and culture, and our Compassionate Care in Medicine minor. She and her family are from Chattanooga, Tennessee. In addition to her academic achievements, she has built up a strong clinical, research, and service background, including participation in a SSLP at the Kimberly Home Pregnancy Center in Clearwater, Florida, volunteering for a suicide hotline service run out of Boston, and long-standing work as a medical scribe, both nearby in Elkhart and back home in Chattanooga, transitioning into a telehealth scribing opportunity for the University of California San Francisco ENT clinic. She also pursued undergraduate psychology research with the Adult Development and Aging Lab of Prof. Cindy Bergeman. Her Comp Care Capstone investigated perceived clinical compassion during encounters with healthcare and the potential relationship to variances in health outcomes across ethnic groups, a project that led her to study last summer in Bishkek, Kyrgykzstan which is home to more than 80 different ethnicities. Sarah will be attending the University of Tennessee School of Medicine next year. 

The third Baldinger award recipient is Shannon Arielle Culbert. Shannon is a Science Preprofessional Studies major with minors in Compassionate Care in Medicine and in Science, Technology, and Values. She and her family are from Albany, New York. She has amassed a broad record of academic achievement with a strong clinical, service, research and leadership background.  These include numerous shadowing experiences across multiple disciplines and volunteering in a hospice setting near her home. She has pursued several research opportunities through the Harper Cancer Research Institute, the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program, and the Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the University of Minnesota as a student scholar in the Cancer Research, Education, and Training Experience program. In addition, she pursued leadership opportunities through her dorm and several student clubs, as well as through her work as a lifeguard, chemistry tutor, swimming coach, tutor of children from under resourced schools through the Robinson Community Learning Center, and the student representative of the College of Science to the Notre Dame Honor Code Committee. During the coming year, she will be further expanding her research background at the National Cancer Institute of the NIH, before applying to MD/PhD programs.

The recipient of the Fr. Joseph Walter Award is Angela Ly. Angela is a Science Preprofessional Studies major with a second major in Theology. She and her family are from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She’s amassed a broad record of academic achievement and a strong clinical, service, and leadership background. In addition to leadership and service in the dorm and cultural clubs, these include a SSLP as a direct care worker at the St. Louis Center, a residential community for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities; volunteer efforts with Matthew 25 health and dental clinic in Fort Wayne; and multiple leadership roles with Campus Ministry as a Multicultural Anchor Intern and retreat leader, as a group leader for the ND Vision Program for two years, as a team leader for the RCIA program, and in service as a Liturgical Ministry in our dorm and at the Basilica. Angela will be working at the E. Blair Warner medical center this summer and then pursuing a year of service with a homeless ministry called A Simple House. Then, she will be applying to Physician Assistant programs afterwards.

 

The recipient this year is Brendan Schwartz: In addition to his major in Science Preprofessional Studies, he also completed a second major in Applied and Computational Math and Statistics (ACMS). He and his family are from Overland Park, Kansas. In addition to his academic success, he developed a strong clinical, service, research and leadership background over four years. These included clinical work as a scribe at a pain clinic near home, clinical service at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, the First Aid Services Team at Notre Dame, and the Sr. Maura Brannick in South Bend in the Family Medicine Center (FMC) in Mishawaka, outreach clinics of St. Joseph Hospital, and international service with Timmy Global Health on a medical brigade in Ecuador. He also pursued infectious disease research with Prof. Alex Perkins, and cancer research with Prof. Amy Stark in the DNA Learning Center lab and with Una Nueva Esperanza in Puebla. He also pursued leadership and service opportunities in the dorm, Dunne Hall, through the Notre Dame Club Soccer Team, and with La Casa de Amistad in South Bend. Brendan will be attending Columbia University medical school in the fall.