Bastardo Blanco '12: Helping St. Jude's mission with his Biology degree

“I am inspired every day by the work that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital does, 因为我可以为拯救儿童和为他们创造一个更美好的世界的使命做出贡献,”

Dr. Daniel Bastardo Blanco ’12

Dr. Daniel Bastardo Blanco, Manager of the 一起由St. Jude™ online resource and a member of 埃尔迈拉大学’s Astonishing Class of 2012, travels and works with people from around the world, developing communications about complex biomedical research, patient education, and humanitarian service projects. 作为生物医学通信领域的一颗冉冉升起的新星，他最近获得了 Memphis Business Journal's 2023 class of 40 Under 40!

但沟通并不是巴斯塔多·布兰科最初的职业轨迹. He had dreamed of being a scientist, and if he had stayed and studied in his home country of Venezuela, Bastardo Blanco would likely be a veterinarian today.

When Bastardo Blanco was younger, 他参观了委内瑞拉的一所学校，这所学校将训练他成为一名兽医. 他本来打算去上学的，但后来他的母亲得知了一个为成绩优异的学生提供奖学金去美国上大学的新项目.

“I was very intrigued and decided to try for it. 为什么不呢??”

After a lengthy and difficult application process, Bastardo Blanco became one of the few students from outside of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to earn the scholarship.

“That changed my life. 这就是我今天能站在这里的原因:我抓住的机会和我父母允许我冒的风险. It gave me my education at EC and propelled me to success.”

Because of the different school systems, Bastardo Blanco decided to study Biology and become a scientist. 他选择EC是因为它的传统、小班教学和活跃的校园社区.

“I felt 埃尔迈拉大学 was a place for me to grow and to serve. 也, 我喜欢EC有如此多的课程、主题和科目可供探索,” he said excitedly. “这对我来说非常好，因为它使我能够探索更多我以前没有考虑过的研究领域, and I grew and learned in a more holistic way.”

小班授课意味着他可以真正了解他的教授.

“My relationship with my professors was really close. It went beyond just taking classes with them. 我在学习他们成为科学家和教授的历程. So it was really special.”

尽管巴斯塔多·布兰科是生物学专业的学生，但他还是受到了他的化学教授布兰科博士的启发. Dale Powers, a published scientist with many patents. “To me, he seemed like an inspiration. 在最初的一两周内，我问他我是否可以和他一起做研究.”

And the answer was yes. While Bastardo Blanco conducted research with Powers, 点燃他真正热情的经历是他在二年级和三年级之间在奥伯勒夏季研究项目中进行的微生物研究.

“I continued to do that work through the rest of my studies at EC.”

虽然巴斯塔多·布兰科在实验室里取得了成功，但他在课堂之外也取得了成功. In his first year, he joined seven clubs, including Ultimate Frisbee, Model United Nations, 西班牙语, 和网球. Bastardo Blanco also wanted to stay involved with Rotary International, which he volunteered with in high school. 他最终在mg冰球突破豪华版下载创立了扶轮青年服务团分会，该分会至今仍在蓬勃发展. 与同学聚会，制定如何在社区中发挥作用的策略，成为他每周最好的时光.

“That was a significant part of my education. It was w在这里 I learned how to build relationships, 做一个领导者, 推销我的想法, and bring people together. 我非常感谢EC为我提供了这样一个社区，在这里我可以成长为一个领导者，成长为一个人.”

在电子商务, 巴斯塔多·布兰科正在成为他梦想成为的科学家, 在田纳西大学健康科学中心攻读生物医学博士学位. 他觉得自己比很多同学都更能面对研究生院的挑战, thanks to his experiences at EC.

“我的一些同学并没有真正有机会参与课堂，”他解释说. “他们可能只是和100个人一起去上一节课，一整天都沉默不语，不参与讨论.”

然而,, as Bastardo Blanco went through his education, 他意识到他没有利用自己的一些优势，比如沟通和建立关系. 他决定探索自己的这一面，并最终从一名科学家转变为一名专业的传播者和公共关系专家.

“我的科学训练帮助我与科学家和医生建立联系，并思考创造性的方式，有效地向普通受众传达科学和医学信息. 另外, 我使用在实验室中培养的技能来改进我的团队如何处理我们的工作，并使研究成为日常工作的一部分.”

“我现在所做的工作每天都在激励着我，让我更接近人们，更接近病人，并继续从事对人们生活产生全球影响的工作. 面对儿童癌症和其他威胁生命的疾病的家庭需要他们可以信任的教育资源. 无论患者在哪里接受治疗，Jude™在线资源都提供可靠的信息, in a language they can understand.”

This story was first featured in the 2023 edition of 校园 Magazine. 点击 在这里 了解更多!