Lauryn Rolle selected for the Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine |
Published: Jun 26, 2017
Lauryn Rolle, a student at Bishop Strachan School (BSS) in Toronto, Canada, has been selected by her school to attend the Brandeis Global Youth Summit on the Future of Medicine in Boston. Rolle, who will be entering 11th grade in September, was the top 10th grade student at BSS out of a class of 123 students. In a questionnaire she had to fill out explaining her interest in medicine, the former Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year 2013 said she has always had an interest in the sciences and has developed, specifically, an interest in neurology — why people do certain things, the potential of the brain, and the diseases that affect it and how they affect humans. She also wrote that she has an interest in genetics, plastic surgery and pediatrics. Asked if she were awarded $1 million to use for medical research or innovation, what she would use it for, she answered that she would use it to explore the potential of multi-potent neural stem cells. Before leaving for Toronto in eighth grade, Rolle, the daughter of Herman and Pia Rolle, attended St. Augustine’s College for seventh grade. Prior to that, she attended St. Thomas More Primary School. “The next generation of healthcare providers will practice in an environment hard to imagine just a few years ago. Leading-edge science is rapidly changing the daily practice of healthcare,” said Steven Goldstein, chairman of the Global Youth Summit at Brandeis University and dean of the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. “We are in the midst of the most significant and fundamental change in healthcare delivery in our lifetime, and young people who start now will be the future leaders in the field of medicine.” In accordance with Brendeis’ elite admissions standards, only students with exceptional academic records and test scores, as well as documented interest in a medical or health career, were invited to apply. Out of the hundreds of outstanding applicants, Rolle is one of only 230 delegates selected for the program. According to Andrew Flagel, senior vice president for students and enrollment at Brandeis, “The delegation comes from across the country and around the world. I am very proud to be welcoming this incredibly talented, diverse and passionate group of young leaders to Brandeis.” Delegates to the summit will gain unique, behind-the scenes insight into the dynamic world of healthcare through experiential learning, guest lectures and networking opportunities with leaders and innovators in the global medical community, in order to build upon their already significant abilities and chart their path to becoming leaders in medicine. “Soon it will be routine to order the complete map of each patient’s genome, and the staggering potential of truly personalized medical treatments for both chronic and acute illnesses will be in our hands, as will be the responsibility for handling this powerful information in an ethical manner,” said Goldstein. “Brandeis is at the forefront of exploring these issues and part of its distinctive mission is to produce leaders to repair the world.” Delegates will hear from prominent Brandeis faculty members, including fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and medical researchers and innovators. The summit’s keynote address will be delivered by Dr. David Roberts, dean of external education at Harvard Medical School. Brandeis is a mid-sized private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, with an extraordinary story. Just after World War II, at a time when top-tier United States universities were openly exclusionary, the Jewish community established Brandeis as a non-sectarian university, meaning that it has always welcomed and supported exceptional faculty and students of all backgrounds and beliefs. At Brandeis they emphasize critical thinking. Brandeis offers students direct access to small classes with faculty who become transformative mentors. For nearly two decades, Brandeis has offered the very best high school students the opportunity to benefit from this extraordinary academic and social atmosphere. At their precollege summer programs, students receive college-level instruction of the highest academic caliber. Through the programs, Brandeis staff and faculty offer an intellectually rigorous experience that equips students with the skills, knowledge and motivation to take on leadership roles in their areas of interest. |