For release: Oct. 15, 2012
Honors College contact: Laura Clippard, 615-898-5464 or Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu
MURFREESBORO — MTSU
alumna and Fulbright Scholar Kaitlen Howell will discuss medical research she
conducted during her 16-month stay in Munich, Germany, during a University
Honors College public lecture this week.
Howell was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award in
2010. She was chosen to study in Germany, which later awarded her a Fulbright
internship that extended her stay.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for
individually designed study and research projects or English teaching
assistantships for one academic year in a foreign country. Fulbright recipients
will meet, work, live and learn from the people of the host country, sharing
daily experiences.
Working primarily with cardiac arrest survivors, Howell will explain to attendees how many who suffer cardiac arrest and then receive CPR will experience a lack of oxygen to the brain, resulting in a coma.
During the course
of her research, Howell examined test results of these patients and then
challenged a supposed “100 percent poor outcome” predictor.
Critical to her
study, she says that patients with this marker still can improve, but people in
intensive care units all around the world are being removed from life support
within days of receiving CPR because these outcome predictors are present.
Through her
address, Howell hopes to convey all the benefits that a study abroad can
provide.
"Fulbright
enriched my life in so many ways; professionally through research, but I also
grew personally through the relationships I developed," she said. "It
provided me an opportunity to show my own character and develop strengths that
I didn't even know I had."
Established
in 1946, the Fulbright Program is part of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Fulbright gives selected students,
teachers and scholars the opportunity to travel abroad to study, teach and
research in more than 155 countries.
Coming home to the
States this past March, Howell continues to work with her German research team
preparing several papers for upcoming publication.
Passionate about
education, she also tutors grade school through college students in math,
biology, chemistry, physics, English and German language skills.
"I love
learning and I love sharing that knowledge with others," Howell explained.
Participating in
mentoring programs, Howell works one-on-one with young girls and foster youth,
embracing every chance to invest in others through guidance and by telling her
story.
Having spent much
of her own childhood in the foster care system, Howell entered MTSU at an educational
disadvantage. Through intense dedication, she has proven that anything is
possible with enough determination. Amid preparing for multiple speaking
engagements and presentations and continuing her research and writing, Howell
is applying for medical school.
For more
information about this event or the Honors College, contact Laura Clippard at Laura.Clippard@mtsu.edu. For a list of
past MTSU Fulbright winners, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/honors/FULBRIGHT.php.
To learn about the
Fulbright scholarship, visit the award program’s main website at http://us.fulbrightonline.org.
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Media welcomed
Photo caption
MTSU Fulbright Scholar
Howell.jpg caption
While an MTSU
undergraduate student, Kaitlen Howell, right, found a mentor in biology
professor Dr. Gore Ervin. Howell listens as he answers her question in class.
(MTSU file photo Andy Heidt)
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second century of service, Pride, Tradition and Excellence remain the
cornerstones of "Tennessee’s Best"! For MTSU news and information any
time, visit www.mtsunews.com.
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MTSU news and information any time, visit www.mtsunews.com.
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