Summer Intern in Division of Biological Sciences Aims to Apply Lessons Learned about Malaria to Her Future Global Health Studies, August 3, 2007, Harvard Public Health NOW

Mariel Bailey

"Providing public health and making sure people around the world have access to health care equal to what is enjoyed in developed countries is something I'd like to be involved in," said Mariel Bailey, a 20-year-old undergraduate from Stanford University who is participating in a nine-week internship program at HSPH.

"I have always been interested in public health," she said. "I started traveling last summer, when I went to China on a research grant, and I decided that I wanted to focus on international health.''

A native of Newport, R.I., Bailey is one of six students in the Division of Biological Sciences Undergraduate Summer Internship Program, aimed at undergraduates interested in laboratory-based biological research. The program, ongoing for more than a decade, is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

A biology major, Bailey is interning in the lab of Dyann Wirth, chair of the HSPH Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases. There, Bailey works closely with graduate student Amanda Lukens on a malaria project.

"We're working with Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent strain of malaria and the most common form in sub-Saharan Africa, looking at proteins that help it evade the immune system,'' said Bailey.

She aims to take her HSPH experience with her to China after she has completed her internship. Bailey is studying the Chinese language at Stanford and spent a semester in Beijing last year, where she studied bioethics and health care. When she returns to China this year, she plans to research HIV/AIDS. Her research trips to China have been organized through Stanford University, and Bailey said that she is conducting the research for an honors thesis on international health care.

When she graduates from Stanford, Bailey wants to take a year to work in a lab setting, she said, "to get a feel for how long-term lab research works.'' She then plans to apply to a graduate school to obtain a PhD in immunology.

"I would love to research infectious diseases for the World Health Organization or the National Institutes of Health," said Bailey. "I hope I can make contributions to world health through this career path."

—ML