Kristina Maxwell, BSBmE 2016, is also an Honors College graduate.
Why did you choose the U of A?
I chose the U of A because of the great culture I found when I came to visit on my two campus tours. I knew that I wanted to study biomedical engineering and I was really happy to find out the degree had just been created at the University of Arkansas. I also liked that the University of Arkansas is in the SEC because I enjoy watching sports and was raised in a home whose parents went to SEC schools as well.
Why did you choose your major/focus?
I always knew I wanted to enter the medical field whether that was as a physician, sales rep, or veterinarian. I really enjoyed the scientific and mathematic fields and excelled at them in high school so I decided engineering was the best route for me. After visiting the University of Arkansas, I learned about all the cool senior design projects going on and found them intriguing. I decided that was the perfect major for me and would still allow me the choice of either going to work for a company or going to medical school after undergraduate.
What are your future plans and how did your college experience help shape them?
Biomedical engineering provided me the opportunity to research cancer therapies, modeling, and the effect of different immunology methods. I am very passionate for research and have worked in Dr. David Zaharoff’s immunotherapy lab for the past two years. I fell in love with research; the trial and error process, examining past literature, discovering new effective methods of performing an experiment, and the joy of finalizing results. After I graduate I will continue on to Washington University to attain my PhD in biomedical engineering. In the future I would like to perform research at a private institute or with a clinician in a hospital setting conducting translational research involving disease-related therapeutics
Do you have any words of wisdom for your fellow students?
I would recommend you get the most you can out of your college experience – whether that be joining clubs inside the school, joining a club/IM team, or outside in the community. Also participate in lots of community service and make connections with people around the Northwest Arkansas area. Getting to know people in the area and throughout multiple disciplines in the school will make you love the University of Arkansas even more. I have truly found a home here with my fellow razorbacks and I believe a huge part of that is my active participation around campus and the community.
Tell us something unusual, surprising, or fun about yourself:
I love to golf and use that as a de-stresser and outlet throughout the year.