Growing up in rural Virginia, Grace Adkins was not exposed to much of the captivating world of science until the end of her high school career. After an exciting laboratory experiment in high school, she decided to enter college aspiring for a STEM degree. In college, she became interested in public health. In 2019, she travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to study global health and development policy. It was this experience that showed her exactly why she was so drawn to a career in biomedical sciences.
Adkins earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology in 2021 from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. She maximized her training by accepting multiple internships and becoming a teaching assistant. She also completed an undergraduate research fellowship at the University of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Research Center, which solidified her desire to go to graduate school. At the conclusion of the fellowship, she participated in several poster presentations that led her to accepting an offer to be a featured topic presenter.
“I want to save lives by researching diseases afflicting children,” she says. “Something that strongly compels me to biomedical research is that its impact goes beyond the local community and even a country. My contributions to science will hopefully lead to effective therapies for children worldwide.”
Hometown: Staunton, Virginia