Grace Baldwin is a junior at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, who plans to graduate in the spring of 2016. Grace is a Biology Major with a minor in Managerial Economics. She also has been taking medical school course prerequisites in hopes applying to medical school after college. In high school she was a competitive mogul skier and sailor, and although she no longer competes, she still continues to ski and sail as much as she can. In addition she writes for her campus newspaper, The Colby Echo.Grace found out about the Gift of Life foundation after excitedly signing up for the bone marrow registry through a drive that was held at Colby last spring. She has taken classes in immunology, and so she was interested in the effort from a biomedical standpoint, but more so she is extremely motivated by the cause and the importance of increasing awareness in hopes of building a larger and more diverse donor base. She is very excited to be a part of the foundation!
Michael Silverstein is a senior Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Rochester. After donating bone marrow this past June, his experience with Gift of Life made it hard for him to resist an opportunity to continue to work with them on the quest for finding bone marrow donors. Michael's interest in stem cells also extends to the lab where he studies methods of proliferating red blood cell precursors; he also hopes to pursue a research project next year in Switzerland where he would design a method of culturing white blood cells to provide bone marrow recipients with a temporary immune system post-transplant, when they are susceptible to infection. When not in the lab, Michael serves on the executive board of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, as well as MOVE, a sexual assault awareness group. However, no week is complete without practice for Park Lot Shuttle, a band in which he plays guitar for on-campus.
Fatima Faisal attends Syracuse University and will be graduating in 2015. She is a Newspaper and Online Journalism major, Psychology minor and on the Pre—Med track. As a contributing writer for the Elite Daily it is no wonder her favorite hobby is writing. Fatima aspires to be a physician one day. Her passion for helping others and making a difference is what gives her a deep connection to the essence and cause of Gift of Life.
Michael Padulsky is a senior at Boston College double majoring in Applied Psychology & Human Development and General Sciences with a minor in Special Education. He enjoys running and has run the Boston Marathon twice during his time at Boston College. He has worked with the Gift of Life several times over the past few years through his on campus organization, Cancer Affects Siblings Too (CAST), in which he organizes bone marrow drives to register BC students and faculty members.
Samantha Sagaser is a sophomore at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a premed neuroscience major, and is expecting to graduate in 2017. She loves playing soccer and listening to music. After joining the registry last year, Samantha was matched with a woman suffering from Leukemia. Unfortunately Samantha was not able to donate, as the woman's condition changed quickly, but this initial match motivated Samantha to get more involved in the Gift of Life Foundation.
Kasey Shallenburg is currently in her third year at the University of Florida and is expected to graduate in the spring of 2016. She is a Sociology major, on a Pre-Medical track, with hopes of going to medical school. Besides academics, her favorite hobbies include swimming, volunteering, and spending time with her family. She joined the Gift of Life Registry in late 2013 and has been a match one time. Unfortunately, it did not work out, but she continues to dream of one day being able to donate.
Brianna Shporer was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. During her high school years she attended the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, NC and has now matriculated to Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She is planning a Spring ’17 graduation with a degree in Business Administration. Becoming a social entrepreneur is her passion.
Upon arriving on Emory’s campus, Brianna got busy. She joined Emory’s Red Cross Blood Drive Committee promoting blood drives and raising awareness for its critical need. She also became involved with Building Tomorrow, a national organization that raises funds to build schools in Uganda. Chairing their week long fund-raising effort, Bike-to-Uganda, their monetary goals were exceeded. When free from school and extra-curricular activities, Brianna enjoys sailing and cooking.
Brianna became passionate about Gift of Life because of her older brother Zachary’s own struggle. Zachary was diagnosed with AML and his only chance of possible survival was through a transplant. Brianna’s family heritage added an extra complication for a match. When Brianna was informed that she herself was not a match, she was devastated. She was fortunate enough to hear Jay Feinberg speak and his message of finding a match “anywhere for anyone” gave her hope for her brother. Fortunately, when the expanded bone marrow data bases were explored, Zachary not only had one match, but multiple. Promoting drives will be an honor for Brianna because she understands first hand that these drives help many live and keep their families intact, although she herself did eventually lose her brother to the disease.
Jen Reich currently attends Binghamton University where she will be graduating in May of 2016, and is a Human Development Major with a Minor in Education. Aside from spending time with her friends, Jen's favorite hobby is to experiment in the kitchen with healthy new recipes, always looking to make healthy and tasty treats. Jen started her involvement with the Gift of Life when she was studying abroad in Israel for a year after graduating from high school, where she first learned about the organization through a family member who had lost a daughter to leukemia. Jen has continued to be involved with the Gift of Life by volunteering for registry drives on the Binghamton University campus, and she is highly excited to continue her involvement as a Campus Ambassador.
