Shaping Policy through Medical Research During the summer, Megan Brophy, a senior biochemistry major, discovered a different type of medical research. Away from the laboratory and experiments, Brophy compiled and interpreted information to aid public officials in creating policy. Brophy worked with Dr. Huiyan Xiang at the Columbus Children's Research Institute in the Center for Injury Research and Policy. Brophy studied pediatric eye disabilities though extensive reading, writing, and data analysis. Dr. Xiang offered ideas on how to present the data and helps analyze the statistics. "It was medically related as opposed to science research," she said about her project. Brophy found that the most common burns in children (ages 21 and under) involve parts of the face. The major cause of these burns comes from motor vehicle accidents. Her internship offered a better understanding of research and the opportunities available. Like most researchers, she plans to publish her results, likely in the American Academy of Pediatrics Journal. "[Being published] would be really beneficial for me in the future," she said. Like other Urban Leadership Internship participants, Brophy wrote a weekly journal entry for the program. She also met with other Columbus ULIP participants through regularly planned activities.

• Cultivating Leadership • Culture Study by Design • The Importance of Ground Work • Inside Washington • Job Searching of a Different Kind • On Her Way to the Top • One of the Crew • A Private Burden for Public Health • Reading Matters • Researching History Where It was Made • Shaping Policy through Medical Research • The Thrill of Discovery • The Truth About AIDS • Working for a Green Space "I have learned the fundamentals of accounting in classes, [but] these lessons are only the base knowledge necessary for work in the business world." —Diana Williams Read more >>