Each summer Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute welcomes a group of undergraduates to participate in the Katz and Manne Research Institute Summer Scholars Program, engaging them in research related to childhood health and disease. This year, nine students are spending eight weeks working daily with their faculty mentors and research teams to learn how to conduct scientific research and acquire practical research experience. We introduce you to one of these talented summer scholars, Aria Mallare, an aspiring pediatrician with a love of learning and a passion for ensuring all children are set up for success.
Aria’s dedication to helping children was inspired by her mother and grandmother, who were teachers in the Chicago Public School system. In particular, her grandmother’s work as a special education teacher for children with learning and intellectual disabilities led Aria to think about how these challenges affect the ways in which these children engage and learn in an educational setting. “I want to go into primary care pediatrics so I can share expertise about learning disabilities with patients and their families and help children to optimize their learning experiences,” she says. That is why she is thrilled to be mentored during the summer scholar program by Carolyn C. Foster, MD, MS, the principal investigator of the Foster Health Laboratory, who focuses on improving the health of children with special healthcare needs and children with medical complexity. Aria supports the team by interviewing caregivers of children with Down syndrome to better understand their experiences during their children’s annual primary care checkups. Not only does Aria keep busy with her responsibilities with the Foster Health Laboratory but she also attends weekly educational sessions led by faculty members and research education where she learns about opportunities in research, receives career development advice, and refines her poster developing and public speaking skills.
Aria currently attends Mount Holyoke College, a private liberal arts women’s college in Massachusetts where she studies biological sciences and mathematics on the pre-medicine track. She credits the encouragement of her professors for motivating her to take on new challenges, such as her academic advisor who supported her application to the Katz and Manne Research Institute Summer Scholars Program and invited her to join a research lab, and an English professor who worked with her to strengthen her writing and communications skills. As she enters her senior year, Aria will continue her work in her academic advisor’s research lab supporting the team on developing a vaccine against chlamydia, and in her job at her school’s writing center helping her peers to improve their communication skills. After graduation, she plans on joining the National Guard and then attending medical school to become a primary care pediatrician. Driven by a desire to help others, Aria hopes to one day provide disaster relief care with an organization like Doctors Without Borders.
