2023-2024 Duke Post-Sophomore Fellow Raquel Perry, BS, received a College of American Pathologists (CAP) Medical Student Travel Award. It supports medical students showing a strong interest in the specialty of pathology as a career choice and provides funding to cover travel expenses up to $1,200 to attend the CAP Annual Meeting from Oct. 19–22, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Her application was supported by her two research mentors, Professor of Pathology Xiaoyin "Sara" Jiang, MD, FCAP and Associate Professor of Pathology Giselle López, MD, PhD. The abstract described her work with López on the potential to use virtual shadowing in pathology to increase premedical student exposure to pathology.
Additionally, Perry has been working on a research project this year with Jiang titled “Long Term Follow-Up of ThyroSeq Negative and Low-Risk Nodules.” This retrospective study focused on the clinical outcomes of thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology and low risk ThyroSeq® molecular testing. She presented this project at the recent North Carolina Society of Pathologists (NCSP) meeting, winning the second-place award for her poster.
“Dr. Perry first-authored a manuscript reporting our results, which has been submitted to a journal,” said Jiang. “Having the opportunity to work with and mentor phenomenal students such as she is one of the highlights of my career at Duke.”
Originally from Carver, Massachusetts, Perry received her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and her bachelor of science degrees in biochemistry and psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She plans to pursue clinical practice, research, and teaching at an academic hospital.