Master's student Caitlin Rempson and senior William Middlezong have been recognized by Johns Hopkins University as the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Employees of the Year. Their significant contributions to the institution were recognized during a ceremony on April 16.
Each year, thousands of Johns Hopkins students go above and beyond as graduate and undergraduate employees. According to executive director of University Experiential Learning Nickolas Lantz, these students play an indispensable role in supporting the university's research, services, and initiatives.
"Student employees represent one of the largest cohorts in our workforce at Hopkins, and their impact is both broad and deeply felt," he says. "Whether behind the scenes or front and center, they help keep the university running while gaining valuable experience that prepares them for life beyond the classroom. We are proud to recognize their dedication and excellence."
Caitlin Rempson
Graduate Employee of the Year
Approximately 11% of Zambians aged 15 to 49 have HIV. Though deaths and new infections are on the decline, the virus remains prevalent and stigmatized in the region. Project YES!, a peer mentoring program that supports HIV-positive Zambians aged 15 to 24, is working to reduce internalized stigma and improve outcomes among its participants.
Graduate student Caitlin Rempson was hired by Associate Professor Julie Denison last spring to support an NIH-funded research study that integrated a mental health program into Project YES! After completing the course requirements for her degree, Rempson travelled to Ndola, Zambia, to spend eight months collecting data for the study.
In her nomination letter for Graduate Employee of the Year, Denison praises Rempson for her kindness and initiative. The associate professor highlights Rempson's impressive emotional intelligence, which allowed her to form quick but genuine bonds with team members and study participants. While in Zambia, Rempson even took classes in the local language, Bemba, to better connect with the community.
"Caitlin started on day one with a level of skill, focus, and passion that simply drew the whole interdisciplinary team together," writes Denison. "At each step, Caitlin's analysis and people skills ensured very rich and thick contextual data on how the study team should proceed. ... This work would not have progressed as it did without Caitlin."
Rempson will graduate later this month with a Master of Science in Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
William Middlezong
Undergraduate Employee of the Year
Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a rare type of blood cancer that occurs once in every 250,000 people. Although the disease is considered the most curable leukemia, with a five-year survival rate of 90%, effective treatment requires diagnosis as soon as possible.
Senior William Middlezong has worked as an undergraduate assistant in associate professor Ying Zou's lab for the past two years. During this time, he has made pivotal contributions to the lab's groundbreaking cancer research, helping to develop an improved diagnostic tool for APL called CENAS.
In her nomination letter for Undergraduate Employee of the Year, Zou highlights Middlezong's "extraordinary" technical and intellectual skills, which allow him to draw from molecular biology, mathematics, and computer science. Most notably, Middlezong's development of an ethanol wash step increased CENAS's sequencing efficiency from 20% to 90%, drastically improving the tool's reliability.
"William's contributions have had a profound impact on our department and the broader cancer community," writes Zou. "His work on the CENAS is poised to significantly improve the diagnosis of APL, providing faster, more accurate results that could save lives. Furthermore, his research has implications for the development of targeted therapies and has the potential to be applied to other cancers. ... As someone who has had the privilege of mentoring over 200 student employees across various institutions, I can say with confidence that William ranks in the top 1%."
Middlezong will graduate later this month with a bachelor's degree in molecular and cellular biology.
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