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Melissa Sum

Biography

Melissa Sum earned spectacular grades at Columbia but also found time to establish several nonprofit groups. She co-founded an organization called Patchworks which enabled children at New York-Presbyterian Hospital to make arts and crafts for Hurricane Katrina children. It was later expanded to provide crafts activities at a nursing home. A second project, Unite for Sight, provides eye care for the homeless.

Melissa is dedicated both to the sciences and the humanities. Her professors say she is a brilliant researcher in chemistry and oceanography, a subject she had no background in. It took her only a few weeks to learn core principles, something graduate majors spend 18 months doing. She is weighing specialties in gynecology and endocrinology, aiming at early detection "of problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome in young women."

As a medical student, Melissa hopes to work with free community clinics in Harlem, going beyond basic services to "educate the local population on important symptoms and consequences of endocrine disorders.," Too often, women in economically distressed areas shy away from seeking help for reproductive disorders. She would like to break down the language barriers of Cantonese, French, and Spanish, to promote better health care for these young women. In addition, however, she wants to get grants for research, "to investigate the link between emotions and hormonal disturbances."

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