2000's Alumni Stories

The Human Bio undergrad major was valuable. It gave me a multidisciplinary perspective that I used to gain a JD and MBA.

Area of Concentration: Medical Anthropology


HumBio was the best part of my Stanford experience! It led me to study medical anthropology, which led me to study leprosy in a slum in Mumbai. During that summer, I decided that I'd rather be a physician helping…

Area of Concentration: Health Policy and Finance


My life resembles a module from Spring quarter of the Core, figuring out how to improve health care delivery in government-run health systems. The techy side helps me to understand the science behind things like blood…

HumBio area of study: Biopsychological Basis of Behavior.

HumBio area of study: Health Policy
The summer before my freshman year, I sat down with the full list of Stanford majors and crossed out roughly half of them: the subjects I *knew* I didn't want to study. I crossed out both Human Biology and Economics, which ended up being my major and…

HumBio area of study: Bioethics and Disease.
My favorite part of the HumBio core was Bill Durham's module on the evolution of lactose tolerance. What a fascinating story! I still tell it at parties to this day. HumBio was the perfect preparation for a career in public health - I just wish I…

HumBio area of study: Conservation Biology & Policy.
From chasing butterflies at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory with Carol Boggs, to experiencing the wonders of the Galapagos with Bill Durham, and watching for grizzlies as I interviewed Montanan land-owners for my thesis,…

Area of Concentration: Biomedical Ethics

I took my humbio degree and went to law school, never thinking that I would ever end up using my degree within my career. After several years as a prosecutor at the state and federal levels, I got the opportunity to sit on what is…

HumBio area of study: Neurobiology.
In a moment out of "White Men Can't Jump," studying late in Russ Fernald's lab - fruits, including those starting with the letter Q - so Vinita could win College Jeopardy.

HumBio area of study: Pathophysiology of aging.
HumBio introduced me to the concept that healing and illness are the story of disease. I won't every forget my advisor Larry Zaroff, MD in his elmo hat, meeting with me for coffee at the student bookstore to discuss my curriculum, which we…

HumBio area of study: Health as a Privilege.
HumBio nurtured my interdisciplinary explorations and provided me with a breadth of knowledge that made many options after graduation both attractive and feasible. I eventually found my way to midwifery, and along the way I enjoyed an exciting…

HumBio area of study: Medical Anthropology.
My work now involves helping people understand how the health reform law will affect their lives. I am so grateful to the professors who gave me an excellent background on health policy and our broken health care system so I can draw upon that…

HumBio area of study: Genetic Anthropology.
If it weren't for Professor Durham's demonstration of the blue-footed booby courting dance, I would still be single.

 

HumBio area of study: International Child & Adolescent Health & Development


The HumBio Program allowed me to combine my passions for International Health and Child & Adolescent Development into a single course of undergraduate study. Also, through several of my upper…

HumBio area of study: Women’s Health.
Thanks to the great variety of HumBio classes, I was able to find a passion that carried on after graduation and continues to influence my future career plans. It was my Controversies in Women's Health class that gave me a fantastic mentor, Dr. Jacobson…

HumBio area of study: Brain, Behavior, and Adolescent Development.
HumBio introduced me to an interdisciplinary approach to studying and solving problems that I am trying to pass on to my Biology students. We've looked at how the high prevalence of malaria can help explain differing rates…

HumBio area of study: Neuroscience and Behavior.
The ability to get to teach this material at such a high level has awakened a tripartite passion for research, teaching, and public outreach that has shaped my entire life plan.

HumBio area of study: Neuroendocrinology.
One day in the Core, my good friend was sitting next to me and, about fifteen minutes into class, whispered that she felt really nauseous. Before we knew it, she had thrown up (albeit quietly) in her own lap. Stunned, we implored her to go home and…

HumBio area of study: Environmental Change and International Health.
One of my favorite HumBio experiences didn't occur during the Core, but actually happened this past year when I was working as a healthcare program director for a nonprofit in rural Kenya. My parents came to visit and we…

HumBio area of study: Genetic Disease & Public Health.
I'll never forget my years at Storey House. Being surrounded by so many diverse individuals all united by the theme of HumBio has inspired me to study medicine from both a social and scientific perspective!