I’ve been interested in evolutionary medicine since high school, but I didn’t know what it was called. And then, in my senior year of college, I took a course called ‘Evolution and Human Health,’ and that hit the nail on the head for me.

The MSc-GH program has plenty of strengths on its own, but it was the Bass Connections program that enabled me to find like-minded students and really delve into evolutionary medicine.

There aren’t any PhD programs for evolutionary medicine right now, but the field is growing, so we’ll see what’s available when I’m ready to go back to school. In the meantime, my role at TriCEM allows me to continue my work with Charlie Nunn, deepen my understanding of evolutionary medicine and network with leaders in the field. It’s a great opportunity.

Excerpted from Alumna Spotlight: Melissa Manus ’16 Explores Links between Evolution and Medicine