Meet the Class of 2030

We are delighted to introduce you to the newest 32 students to the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Enjoy some fun facts about our new students:

• Undergraduate majors: While most students majored in biology, bio/biomedical engineering or neuroscience, some students focused on nontraditional areas including Latina and Latino studies, pharmaceutical sciences and sociology.
• Education: Three students have already earned master’s degrees.
• Teaching/mentoring: Many of our students have experience tutoring, particularly in the sciences. One student worked with first-generation high school students to prepare them for higher education, another mentored inner city girls and another taught English to recent immigrants.
• Serving others: One student worked in Togo, Africa, helping to organize community leaders to manage a middle school latrine building project, and another helped established Bronx Health, an initiative targeting diabetic patients facing health gaps. One student led a project that brought food security screening to a free clinic, and another established a refugee/migrant youth-focused nonprofit. One student, during college, helped to found a COVID-19 call center in a local hospital, and yet another student is working to create a podcast dedicated to educating the Punjabi community about health-related misconceptions and stigmatized topics.
• Innovation: One student developed a 3D organoid to study the genetic drivers of high-grade ovarian cancer, and another created a computational resource for pediatric oncology researchers to identify protein targets on the surface of tumor cells. One student taught themselves machine learning and trained a program to count thousands of cells in only 15 minutes. Yet another developed a protocol to stain and visualize the vasculature of the human optic nerve in 3D tissue, something that had never been done before.
• Travel: Our students have visited many continents and countries outside the U.S. including Africa, Brazil, Chile, Europe, Iceland, India, Israel, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Peru and Thailand.
• Why choose CCLCM? Students have many reasons for choosing CCLCM, most often among them the deep-seated spirit of collaboration and teamwork found here. Other students mention the strong research component, focus on the humanities, active learning environment, emphasis on innovation and the warm and welcoming community they found here.
• Just for fun: One student climbed Machu Picchu, another backpacked through Thailand, and yet another explored the Amazon Rainforest. One student practices bhangra, a Punjabi folk dance. Several students play pickleball, and another enjoys a good game of cricket.

Please join us in welcoming this extraordinary group of students to the Lerner College of Medicine!