Debra Linfield

"This essay explores critical issues surrounding BRCA1 genetic testing for Jewish Orthodox women: Ashkenazi women have a high prevalence of the mutation, but within the Orthodox community there are socio-cultural and stigma constraints to testing.  The essay then addresses how genetic testing may become more accepted, to save countless lives." -Debra Linfield, 2015

She is a senior majoring in Biology and minoring in Math, class of 2015. I will be serving next year as a Fellow at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, North Carolina, before applying to medical school. 

She received the Donald and Robin Kennedy Undergraduate Awardin 2015 for her essay: "Reluctant to Save a Life? BRCA1 Gene Testing Among Orthodox Jewish Women" written for Prof. Londa Schiebinger's class.