Melissa Arbizu

Neuroscience

Hello, my name is Melissa Arbizu and I am a junior and Neuroscience major at Duke. I was born and raised in Guatemala City and moved to Dallas Texas eight years ago. Some of my favorite hobbies are dancing (contemporary, K-pop, and Hip-Hop),ice-skating, go-karting, and learning new languages. Some of my favorite foods are chicken masala, butter chicken, and KBBQ.

I am currently involved in organizations such as UNICEF (co-chair of Durham affairs), AMWA, and will be volunteering at the Duke Hospital Pedriatic Visual Arts Department where I will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience interacting with patients through the use of art as a medium to create a safe and welcoming space for them in the hospital. However, two of the main things I look forward to with this opportunity as well as with my involvement in the medical field as a future physician are to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to help and advocate for under-served communities. As well as having the ability to establish a genuine connection with patients on an emotional and soulful level and hopefully be a source of support during times of vulnerability or difficulty.

In addition, as an aspiring Neurosurgeon I acknowledge the importance and impact the involvement and contribution to research can have both to the scientific and medical fields. Therefore based on my previous experience and skills gained while working at a Molecular Genetics and Microbiology Lab at Duke last year, I look forward to working in a research lab this year that combines my interests in Neuroscience, cancer, and genetics. Primarily, as I wish to further explore the mechanisms revolving around neurodegeneration which lead to the development of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, dementia, and Autism. I also wish to gain a greater insight into newly developed technologies for gene editing such as CRISPR and hopefully contribute to the identification of biological markers and inducers of neurodegeneration, neurogenesis, etc. I recognize that this knowledge can aid with the development of prevention methods and improved treatments for patients with these disorders.