PASADENA, Calif.—Fifteen years ago, Corinna Zygourakis decided at the tender age of seven that she wanted to be a brain surgeon. Now that she's graduating from the California Institute of Technology and heading for the Health Sciences and Technology (HST) M.D. program of the Harvard Medical School, she still intends to devote her career to the grey matter, although she's not quite sure yet whether she'll go into surgery.
"I'm thinking about a career that combines clinical practice and research in neurosurgery or neurology," says Corinna, an honors student at Caltech who is the recipient of a prestigious Soros Fellowship. Referred to as "one of the shining stars of her class" by Caltech administrators for both her academic ability and leadership qualities, Corinna is one of 30 students nationwide (most of them already in graduate or professional schools) who have received Soros funding for further study. At Caltech, she has received the Mabel Beckman Prize and the Jack Froehlich Memorial Award, as well as Axline and Lingle merit scholarships.
Perhaps one of the reasons that Corinna is still uncommitted on surgery as opposed to other forms of neuroscience is because she has already had a particularly wide exposure to the various ways of studying the brain. As a high school student, she spent a summer at MIT doing neuroscience research. During the past few years, she has been involved in a "shadowing program" at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena that allows outstanding premed students to follow a neurosurgeon closely on daily rounds-including into the operating room.
And during her undergraduate career at Caltech, she has done research in the labs of Hixon Professor of Neurobiology John Allman, an anthropologist by training who is one of the leading authorities on brain evolution, and Bren Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Professor of Biology Ralph Adolphs, whose innovative work with MRI and other techniques is providing new understanding in brain maladies such as autism.
Also, she was selected by Caltech's Committee on Exchanges and Study Abroad to take part in Cambridge University's renowned physiology program during the winter of 2005.
She is graduating June 9 with a bachelor's degree in biology, which is by no means an unusual major for a premed student. But she's also getting a second bachelor's in literature, and for her senior thesis has done a study of the role of emotions in the works of Henry James and Ian McEwan.
It's not hard to guess that Corinna is seriously interested in the brain. In fact, one might say such a conclusion is not exactly, well, brain surgery.
A tougher question might be why Corinna has found Caltech to be such a good fit. Since the Institute's modern era began in the early 1920s, Caltech has required all students, including biologists, to not only take such heady subjects as quantum mechanics, but to be immersed in these subjects. Some might argue that life is a little easier for an earnest premed student at other universities that don't have Caltech's rigorous core curriculum.
But Corinna says that Caltech was her immediate choice when she visited the colleges that admitted her-an impressive list comprising Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, and MIT-and has especially thrived in the relatively small, close-knit community.
"I would come back here again in a heartbeat," she says. "I had already spent a summer at MIT, but I was sold on Caltech when I visited here. The students I met were really friendly and really, really down to Earth.
"I guess if I had gone somewhere else, I probably wouldn't have taken differential equations and quantum mechanics as a biology major, but now I'm glad I have a really strong background in mathematics and physics."
Corinna was also admitted to Rice University, where her father is on the chemical engineering faculty. But a visit to California cured her of any tendency to stay on for another four years in Houston.
"I have some good memories of my native city of Houston, but coming to California has been even nicer. I love it out here, and the more liberal feel is really refreshing to me."
Another region of the world where her heartstrings are attached is Greece, from where both her parents emigrated years ago. Most of her family is still in Greece, and she has visited many times and is fluent in the language. But she thinks she'd be very unlikely to set up an office there some day.
"I love Greece; it's a huge part of who I am," she says. "There's so much emphasis on family there-my parents are my closest friends, and I still talk to them about everything."
"But I really want to practice here and I am truly thankful to the Soros Foundation for supporting my medical education. America is the best place in the world to practice cutting-edge medicine."
[Note to editors: In addition to her having received a Soros fellowship, Corinna Zygourakis will also receive the Mabel Beckman Prize during Caltech's spring commencement this Friday. Media representatives interested in interviewing Corinna may call Caltech Media Relations for assistance.]
Written by Robert Tindol