Levasseur balances medical research with cello and Spanish
“Cornell, with its unique block plan, appealed to me because I could continue to do the activities that I loved before entering college, such as playing the cello, volunteering, and being involved with extracurricular activities. I got a scholarship to play cello here, and I quickly discovered the science program was intense and sort of fun. The professors are incredibly supportive. And because of the block plan, I was able to study in Bolivia without missing courses, and that is something I couldn’t have done on a semester plan.”
Victoria Levasseur’s Highlights
- Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
- Major: Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. Minors: Spanish and Music
- Favorite Course: Advanced Spanish Conversation in Bolivia. Spent a block living with a Bolivian family while studying language and culture.
- Cornell Fellow in biochemistry at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas studying post-traumatic stress disorder for two blocks.
- Internship on migraines with Dr. Richard Kraig ’71 in the Departments of Neurology and Neurobiology, Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Connections and funding for this internship were created through Cornell’s Dimensions: The Center for the Science and Culture of Healthcare.
- Summer internship at a medical clinic for low-income families in Cusco, Peru, partially paid for by Cornell’s Levy fund.
- Conducted summer research on Parkinson’s disease in Biology Professor Barbara Christie-Pope’s lab.
- Part of Cornell LEADS: One of 18 students selected to attend leadership conferences throughout the Midwest.
- Cellist in Cornell string quartet.
- President and founder of Active Minds, a mental health awareness and resource group.
- Resident assistant and student tutor
- Named to Phi Beta Kappa, the country’s oldest and most widely respected academic honor society.
More about Victoria
Internships
- Victoria’s blog during her Cornell Fellowship at the Baylor College of Medicine
- Students conduct migraine research in Chicago
Student Symposium abstracts
- Schopenhauerian Philosophy in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
- The Peruvian Healthcare System: Role of Small Clinics in Improving Health Care Access for Low-Income Citizens
- Microglia and TNF-Alpha Modulate Chronic Migraine
- Sex Differences in Response to a Neurotoxin
