The Dean of Student Affairs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Sandra LaBlance, has one thing to say about Rachel Hunt:
“She will make a difference in the world.”
Thirty-year-old Hunt was selected for the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP), where she will spend time researching, learning, writing, practicing, and throwing herself into becoming the best physician scientist she can.
During the program, students work with physicians and scientists of the NIH—a place LaBlance says houses many of the “greatest” minds around the world. Students, they say, leave changed, armed with the skills to continue researching and come up with improved ways to treat patients.
Hunt wants to make a profound difference in the medical community.
Her main focus? Movement disorders like Parkinson’s, turrets, and dystonia—all neurological, and characterized by slow, reduced, or involuntary movements. (Mayo Clinic)
Hunt ultimately decided to further pursue medicine during her time as a nurse in a neurosurgery intensive care unit. Her hope is to make an impact on people, especially patients of neurosurgery. Our hope is that, as Hunt HUNTS for a movement disorders cure, she’ll one day find it!
