Emily McCall, a junior biology major with a pre-medicine concentration from Orangefield, was named a Presidential Summer Fellow and was awarded a $10,000 grant to fund her research in Kenya on the Schistosoma mansoni, a parasitic flatworm estimated to afflict more than 200 million people worldwide according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

She was one of five deserving students who will spend their summer abroad engaging in research after they were selected in November 2017 for David J. Beck Fellowships and Presidential Summer Fellowship grants.

A Beck Fellowship finalist, McCall was selected for the Presidential Summer Fellowship after completing a rigorous application process that detailed her planned studies and how the experience of working alongside an established researcher would impact her life and career, she said.

“It was long, but it wasn’t impossible. It was manageable, but you couldn’t do it in one weekend. Really, it was about pulling all the information together, making it look professional, and getting all your facts straight before you presented,” said McCall. 

Her focus on flatworms flowed from two sources, her future plans and courses she had taken in her major. With plans for medical school and a career helping people, she wanted to research something with direct relation to human medicine. She recently took two parasitology courses with Professor Randall Yoder, so that topic was fresh on her mind. She felt that these two influences would pair well to create an interesting, helpful research topic, one she wished to pursue.

“I got the email in June about the Fellowship applications opening up, so I emailed Dr. Yoder and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in being my mentor? I have some ideas, do you have any ideas?’ We can come up with a plan and that’s kind of where the schistosomes came from,” said McCall.

Through Professor Yoder, McCall made contact with Dr. Eric Loker, a researcher at the University of New Mexico who has been studying the Schistosoma mansoni in Kenya since 1986. He invited McCall to join him in Kenya for the summer. Together, they will be working on ways to match traditional treatments for the parasite with new techniques to try and control the epidemic brought on by poor water quality. She is excited to have an opportunity to work with Dr. Loker, she said, and believes the experience of working with someone who has been doing research as long as he has will be invaluable to her career.

“I’ll be getting hands on research experience, and research is a huge thing in the medical field,” said McCall. “As you get further into medical school you’ll start doing research and publishing articles if you want to get a good residency, and this will help me get some groundwork on how to properly do the research and the hands-on things I’ll be required to do.”

She is recipient of the M.L. Lefler, Sr. and Bessie Lefler Memorial Scholarship, the McMaster Honors Scholarship, and the Orange Memorial Hospital Corporation Scholarship. In addition to her ambitious academic plans, McCall is also heavily involved in on-campus organizations including the LU Ambassadors, the Honors Student Association, and Cardinals Beyond Borders. She is also an ongoing volunteer at the Shorkey Center, an organization that strives to meet the diverse therapy and rehabilitation needs of children in Southeast Texas.

“The Shorkey Center is, hands down, my favorite place to volunteer. I’ve really gotten attached to the kids, and seeing them is easily one of the highlights of my week,” said McCall.

McCall plans to start applying to medical schools this summer, and plans to focus on schools in Texas. She hopes to eventually earn a residency in orthopedic surgery or in pediatrics, but she still hasn’t decided what specialty she wants to pursue, but believes her experiences in medical school will help her decide. Additionally, because of her previous experiences with Lamar’s study abroad programs and her upcoming trip to Kenya, McCall says she is seriously considering practicing abroad when she finishes medical school.

“I have a couple friends who want to go out of the U.S. and do relief work, and that’s always been something I’ve been really interested in,” said McCall. “I want to keep my life based here, but I would love to go for months at a time into different areas and help to improve the quality of life for those in need. The opportunity to make myself useful and help those in areas where a real need is present is something I would be proud to be a part of.”

For more information about the David J. Beck Fellowship, visit https://www.lamar.edu/forms/academic-affairs/david-beck-fellowship/index.html.