Finding the Intersection Between Medicine, Computer Science

Last summer, with the support of a Cullman Scholarship, Isobel mapped out a customized eight-week educational experience that touched on skills from casting fractures to coding software. Isobel’s summer began in Washington, D.C., where she participated in Georgetown University’s one-week Medical Academy, before returning home for a six-week intermediate course in coding followed by a one-week internship with a software-storage company.

“I don’t do well with chopped off fingers,” Isobel said of her initial hesitancy to incorporate medicine into her Cullman experience. “I’d always considered going to med school, but it’s a big thing and a little scary. I’ve always known I want to pursue computer science, but I also wanted to branch out and explore. So, when I was looking at programs, I said, ‘You know what, it would actually be really cool to include medicine in this to just kind of get a taste for it.’”

Considered among Kimball Union Academy’s highest honors, the Cullman Scholarship Program was established in 1983 with a gift from Hugh Cullman ’42 and supports students in off-campus study opportunities. Isobel and nine other students pursued areas of study of their choosing in 2024 aimed at developing leadership skills, global and environmental awareness, and service to others.

For Isobel, who will attend Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in the fall, the experience had a direct impact on what she intends to study going forward. She said she plans to major in information systems — a means of furthering a passion for computer science fostered at KUA — and explore CMU’s health professions program, the school’s pre-med pathway.

“I’d be way more hesitant to pursue pre-med if I hadn’t had this experience,” said Isobel, referencing her time drawing blood, learning CPR, and suturing chickens with other like-minded high-school students. “I’m going to attempt to do pre-med, but for now I just want to show up, see how it goes, and feel out the workload. I can always be involved with medical technology even if I don’t end up seeing med school through.”

That medical-technology pathway, as Isobel learned, lends itself nicely to her interests in computer science. During her six weeks working with Girls Who Code, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase the number of women in computer science and technology, Isobel — cofounder of KUA’s Women in STEM Community Action Group — designed a decision tree that helps computers determine whether an individual is more susceptible to heart disease.

And while not directly associated with medicine, Isobel took her coding experience a step further during her week with Versity, a large-scale, software-storage company with clients including the U.S. Army. During her internship, Isobel designed an innovative program that allows Versity, and its clients, to monitor the speed and success of massive data transfers. She said she was surprised and honored that Versity ended up incorporating her programming into its software, which will forever carry her name as its designer.

Through her experience with Versity, Isobel said she’s now interested in learning how advancements in technology could also lead to improvements in devices like glucose monitors that would enhance the lives of those living with diabetes. And it’s those types of endless possibilities, Isobel said, that will continue to inspire her learning.