Student Scholars
Class of 2014
Sean M. Paschall
Brief biography here...Sean Paschall is a member of the 2014 class at the University of Texas Medical Branch in the combined M.D./M.P.H. program. After graduating high school in Denver, CO Sean attended Rice University and received a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering in 2009 as a magna cum laude graduate. During his time at Rice he was involved with many community and health projects such as YMCA's outdoor lab camp and Engineers Without Borders in addition to serving as a volunteer emergency medical technician.
While at UTMB Sean has been involved in school and community based events focused on student education and preventative healthcare. Sean served as a co-director of Student Liaisons to guide incoming medical students, director of Student Ambassadors for interviewing medical school applicants, as well as a director of Sir William Osler's Name That Book. Sean and fellow Osler Student Scholar Greg Valentine started this program in 2010 to instill a passion for self-directed learning and reading in third and fourth graders through mentorship from medical students. The program brought together several community members and four Galveston elementary schools in addition to a great number of UTMB members to mentor the kids and make reading enjoyable for them. The program is now in its fourth year and is a part of five elementary schools.
In 2012 Sean was inducted into UTMB’s chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha in addition to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and received the American Medical Associations Physicians of Tomorrow Award. Sean plans pursue a career in anesthesiology and pain management with a focus on interventional approaches and prevention efforts. He has a great passion for creative thinking and engineering design and enjoys long boarding and golf in his spare time.
Roxanne L. Radi
Brief biography here...Roxanne Radi is a member of UTMB's class of 2014. Before coming to UTMB, she attended the Johns Hopkins University where she earned degrees in Public Health and Latin American Studies. Since beginning medical school, she has become a regular volunteer at St. Vincent's Free clinic. She also volunteered in the Newborn Nursery and NICU as a first year student while helping the Sailing Club at UTMB as an instructor teaching other students how to sail. As a first year student, Roxanne served as a mentor in the Name That Book program, and this year she is excitedly planning the upcoming year's events as a program co-director.
Roxanne is interested in preventive medicine and spent 7 weeks in northern China at a family medicine residency program studying sustainability in foreign medical education. She is currently UTMB's representative delegate to the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association and is working on improving UTMB's representation in the Texas caucus and encouraging resolution writing from UTMB students.
Jaipreet Suri
Brief biography here...Jaipreet Suri is a member of UTMB's School of Medicine Class of 2014. Before coming to UTMB, Jaipreet graduated Cum Lade from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology, Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Finance, and a minor in Psychology. While at SMU, Jaipreet received SMU’s most highly prized recognition bestowed upon students, faculty, staff, and administrators - The ‘M’ Award. Throughout his undergraduate career, Jaipreet tutored and mentored high school students from low income and disadvantaged families in math and science and was involved in several community and leadership projects.
At UTMB, Jaipreet has served in various capacities, including the Vice-President of the UTMB American Medical Association and Texas Medical Association (AMA/TMA) chapters and Co-Director of the Asclepios Osler Student Society. Jaipreet exemplifies extraordinary integrity, servant-leadership, and compassion, which mirrors his life-long dedication of serving others. Since his second year of medical school, Jaipreet has been organizing an Anti-Tobacco campaign each year in Galveston, Texas. Student leaders from UTMB go to schools (grades 2-8) around Galveston and educate children about the negative effects of tobacco in an attempt to deter them from taking up smoking and/or using tobacco products. Last year, Jaipreet expanded the program to Houston, Texas and more than 1,200 students participated in the program.
Jaipreet has a strong passion for research. He has been involved in multiple research projects since his first year of medical school and has presented his original research at several national meetings. Jaipreet continues to volunteer at his church, St. Vincent’s Student Clinic, Habitat for Humanity, Galveston Island Tree Conservancy, and other volunteer projects on the island.
Class of 2015
Jacqueline Posada
Brief biography here...Jacqueline Posada graduated from The George Washington University in Washington, DC with a B.S. in Biology. After college she remained in the Washington, DC, area to work at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through the Post-Baccalaureate Intramural Research Award Fellowship. She worked with Dr. Susan Moir in the Lab of Immunoregulation-HIV Immunopathogenesis researching how b cells and facets of humoral immunity become dysregulated during immune activation caused by HIV infection. During her work from 2009-2011 she also participated in studies about the H1N1 pandemic virus and the generation of memory b cells after vaccination with a novel antigen.
As a medical student at UTMB, Jacqueline participates in a variety of extracurricular activities: a chief reviewer on the 2015 Scribes Council; student representative for the Truman Blocker, Jr. Osler Society; and president of the medical Spanish club Que Quiere Decir. She also volunteers at St. Vincent’s student clinic. Jacqueline is interested in public health and expanding access to health care in the United States, and she will most likely pursue a residency in Internal Medicine.
Robert A. Reyes
Brief biography here...Robert Reyes is a second year medical student at UTMB. Robert is originally from Mount Pleasant, Texas, and graduated from Columbia University in New York, New York, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. In addition to volunteering at St. Vincent's Clinic, Robert has travelled to Brownsville, Texas, with the UTMB chapter of Frontera de Salud to provide primary care and health screenings for the underserved. In April 2011 along with students from other Frontera de Salud chapters, he travelled to the State Capitol in Austin and met with legislators to advocate for continued funding of University of Texas Outreach (UTCO), a program aimed at preventing and controlling the diabetes epidemic in Texas. Robert currently serves as a student director of Frontera de Salud's Brownsville Project.
In addition to his service activities, Robert enjoys medical research and was the recipient of the 2011 First Place Poster Award among UTMB medical students whose summer research projects were funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Robert intends to uphold the principles of Oslerian Medicine as he completes his medical education and pursues a career in academic medicine.
Casey Sharpe
Brief biography here...Casey Sharpe studied biology and literature at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2008, he accepted an invitation to tour New Zealand as a sponsored folk singer, which would set the stage for a lengthy postponement of medical school. Upon returning to Texas, Casey was recruited by a non-profit organization to procure transplantable tissues and organs from cadavers. During this time, he performed dissections for more than a hundred tissue donations around the state, while also working as a trauma and resuscitation technician at Dell Children’s emergency department. In 2010, he organized and participated in a mission trip to a Zambian orphanage, where hundreds of HIV-positive children lived without adequate food or healthcare. Just before arriving in Galveston for medical school, Casey lived and worked for several months on rural farms in North Carolina and Guatemala.
Casey is interested in many areas of medicine, and as such, is drawn towards the broad scope of practice enjoyed by rural family physicians. After his first year of medical school, he spent a month in the desert towns of West Texas, delivering babies and making house calls with the local family doctor. While in West Texas, Casey was selected as a writer for Medscape’s blog, The Differential, and also had some of his articles published by WebMD.
Alyssa M. Shell
Brief biography here...Alyssa Shell is a MD/PhD student in Population Health Sciences, a program that allows her to combine her love of one-on-one patient care and her commitment to strengthening communities. Her interest in medicine began as an undergraduate at Harvard University during a summer research experience in Santiago, Chile. There, she first encountered the concepts of patient-centered care and cultural sensitivity, those key elements that allow medicine to blend humanism and science. Since that summer, her life has naturally led towards a career in medicine. In 2005, she graduated with an A.B. in Social Studies and a Certificate in Health Policy after completing her senior thesis on the experiences of type 2 diabetes among Mexican American women in southwest New Mexico. During her time between college and medical school, Alyssa traveled extensively in South America through farm-based work-trade opportunities and then returned to the States to apprentice with a medicinal herbalist in Silver City, New Mexico. She continues to draw heavily on these experiences for inspiration as she works towards a future in rural family medicine research and practice.
As a medical student, Alyssa served as president of UTMB's student interest group for Integrative Medicine (SIAM), as the Humanistic Medicine officer for the UTMB AMSA chapter and is a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She also founded and directed an afterschool bicycle mechanics program, Bridging Responsibility and Independence Through Exercise, that donates bicycles to local middle school students and pairs them with a mentor to practice bicycle mechanics and safe cycling. As a graduate student, Alyssa is reengaging with her interest in culture and medicine as she develops her dissertation proposal on the effects of ethnically dense residential living for mental health and well-being. Though fully engaged in her graduate work, Alyssa is excited to retain her connection to patient care as a student director at St. Vincent's student-run free clinic for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Class of 2016
Petra A. Kelsey
Brief biography here...Petra Kelsey spent her high school years in rural Mozambique, which fueled an inclination for travel, as well as a deep love for working with underserved populations. After moving to Austin, she attended the University of Texas, majoring in Business and Germanic Studies. She spent a year in Switzerland learning German and then hosted a German radio show "Es klingt wie Deutsch" in Austin. After graduation, Petra worked at a bank on the West Coast, until the financial meltdown in 2008 inspired her to reevaluate her plans for the future. It was during that period that Petra discovered a deep-seated passion for medicine. With this new career goal in mind, she began her prerequisite course work, volunteered at Hospice Austin and The Volunteer Clinic. She spent the summer before she entered UTMB in Soroti, Uganda, collecting photographs and patient stories for International Midwife Assistance. Several of these photographs appeared in Texas Medicine Magazine.
Petra is currently the president of the Students for Integrative Medicine (SIM). She also teaches a free yoga and meditation class at the UTMB field house, which helps her to share her passion for holistic and integrative medicine with others. In addition, she loves spending time with patients at St. Vincent's Clinic, listening to their stories and learning from the faculty.
Her goal is to learn how to provide patient-centered care to those who need it most, while simultaneously integrating the humanistic principles exemplified by Sir William Osler. She hopes to do so through a career in rural family medicine with an integrative/holistic approach.
Rachel M. Pearson, M.D., Ph.D.
Brief biography here...Rachel Pearson is an MD/PhD student at UTMB's Institute for the Medical Humanities. She holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in the interdisciplinary Plan 2 Honors program. Her undergraduate thesis work was in creative writing, and her short stories and poetry have appeared in the Windward Review, the Mid-American Review, and elsewhere.
Rachel's interest in storytelling led her to medicine. She is constantly amazed by the stories that patients bring, and by the skilled caregivers who create a space for patients to tell their stories. Her research at the Institute will focus on narrative medicine, with special attention to physician-poets and to the elaboration of a theory of consciousness that poses the mind as an instrument of storytelling. She loves working with patients at St. Vincent's clinic, and hopes to do indigent care for the rest of her life. Rachel is thrilled to be becoming a physician, especially with the thoughtful guidance and community of the McGovern Academy.
Agnes Usoro
Brief biography here...Agnes Annetie' Usoro was born in Nigeria, but raised in the US. She claims cultural ties to both her native and naturalized countries. Agnes completed her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. She then worked for three years as a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at both Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, TX and Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.
As a medical student at UTMB, Agnes participates in a variety of extracurricular activities: a reviewer on the 2016 Scribes Council, treasurer of the Pan-African Student Society at UTMB, and general member of the UTMB Diversity Council, Emergency Medicine Interest Group, and Student National Medical Association. She also volunteers at St. Vincent's student clinic, as well as the Galveston Hospice Care Team.
In addition to extracurriculars, Agnes is in the UTMB Global Health Program. She spent the summer of 2013 in Quito, Ecuador with the Child Family Health International (CFHI) program. While abroad, she participated in clinical rotations at two clinics – Centro de Salud Carcelen Alto, Centro de Salud Carcelen Bajo, and one hospital – Maternidad Isidro Ayora. In addition to clinical experience with women's health, she conducted observational research on the reproductive behaviors of women in Quito.
Agnes desires to pursue a medical career in critical care medicine and hopes to be involved in international mission organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders. Outside of medicine, Agnes enjoys to travel and dance. Agnes is very appreciative of the John P. McGovern Academy for the opportunity to serve as an Osler Student Scholar.
- Class of 2014
- Samir S. Hasan
- Sean M. Paschall (MD/MPH)
- Roxanne L. Radi
- Jaipreet S. Suri
- Class of 2015
- Brian E. Dillon
- Brittany M. Graham
- Michelle H. Parmley
- Jacqueline G.Posada
- Robert A. Reyes
- Casey Sharpe
- Alyssa Shell (MD/PhD)
- Class of 2016
- R. Nicholas "Nick" Burns
- Petra A. Kelsey
- Rachel Pearson (MD/PhD)
- Agnes A. Usoro