Audio clip
Doreen Xu
WHAT IS EPIDEMIOLOGY?
Epidemiology is the branch of medical science that investigates all the factors that determine the presence or absence of diseases and disorders. Epidemiological research helps understand how many people have a disease or disorder, if those numbers are changing and how the disorder affects society and the economy.
SOURCE: National Institutes of Health
LOCAL STUDENT'S RESEARCH
Using hospital data and government records from various cities in China, Doreen Xu did her study evaluating how the amount of arsenic in drinking water affected birth weight. She also examined factors such as maternal education and household income and concluded that the arsenic had a statistically significant effect on birth weight.
Baylor School senior Doreen Xu said she's not much of a science person, but the human dimension of epidemiology compelled her to conduct her own study on drinking water in China.
She took that study -- focused on how arsenic in drinking water affects fetal development -- and submitted it to a national research competition for students. In March, she was shocked to learn that she was among a group of 60 finalists, selected from a nationwide group of 639.
"I was just amazed and humbled and shocked," said the 18-year-old, whose home is in Atlanta but she boards at Baylor. "I'm not really a science person to be honest. ... But there's definitely this human aspect of studying human suffering and how that's linked to science that really drew me in."
Ms. Xu is already guaranteed to get $2,000 from her placement in the contest, called the Young Epidemiology Scholars competition, which is sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the College Board. The student -- who is undecided about her college plans but is leaning toward Harvard University -- will travel to Washington, D.C., later this month to present her research and compete to win a scholarship of up to $50,000.
The competition was launched in 2003 to encourage student interest in the public health field, sponsors said. The American Schools of Public Health estimate that an additional 250,000 public health workers will be needed by 2020.
"There was a real interest when this program started in trying to get high school students familiar with and interested in the area of epidemiology and public health at a time when they're making a decision about careers and colleges," said Diane Tsukamaki, director of national recognition and scholarship program for the College Board.
Ms. Xu is one of the contest's two regional finalists in Tennessee. Sarah Kramer, a senior at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, is the other regional finalist. Her study focused on the effect of Advanced Placement exams on student anxiety levels, a release said.
The contest awards up to $500,000 in scholarships every year.
Judges include epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the former deputy commissioner for New York City's Department of Health, and the chief of the California Department of Public Health's Center for Infectious Disease, according to a news release.
Health care reporter Emily Bregel has worked at the Chattanooga Times Free Press since July 2006. She previously covered banking and wrote for the Life section. Emily, a native of Baltimore, Md., earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Columbia University. She received a first-place award for feature writing from the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists’ Golden Press Card Contest for a 2009 article about a boy with a congenital heart defect. She ...
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