MU | N e w s
MU adds online
pharmacogenomics degree
MU junior receives two
national awards to study
in Japan
Propelled by the support of two prestigious national scholarships,
Haylee Parrish ’18 is studying this semester at Hokusei Gakuen
University (HGU) in Sapporo, Japan.
The commuter from Andrews, Ind., is majoring in English at
Manchester with a minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages (TESOL).
Manchester University in November announced the addition of an
online master’s degree in pharmacogenomics (PGx) in spring 2018.
The program is building on the nation’s first PGx master’s degree,
which Manchester launched in May 2016.
PGx is the science behind precision medicine. It relates an
individual’s genes (DNA) to their medication response. PGx
empowers physicians and other clinicians to optimize an individual’s
drug therapy, greatly decreasing medication costs and side effects.
Currently, 10 students are completing the intensive one-year
traditional program on the Fort Wayne campus. The online program
will offer classes over two years and enable students to continue
working while pursuing their degree. The online master’s also
will have two tracks: laboratory and clinical. The laboratory track
is designed for current laboratory technicians or students with a
bachelor’s degree who are interested in PGx but can’t come to Fort
Wayne for a year. The clinical track is designed for individuals who
want to implement PGx into patient care. This could be trained
health care providers such as physicians, pharmacists and genetic
counselors, or any individual interested in PGx.
This is a great opportunity for individuals with an undergraduate
degree in the sciences, or a graduate or professional degree in a
health care field.
VIDEO
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“I’m really huge into languages,” says Haylee, who has studied
Spanish for five years in school and Japanese independently. She is
studying the Japanese language at HGU and living with a Japanese
family in Sapporo until mid-July.
Haylee received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
and the Freeman-ASIA award, both given to students who otherwise
might not have the opportunity for study abroad. Haylee wrote essays
for both applications and, when she returns to Manchester, will
complete a service project to satisfy requirements for both grants.
Haylee is the eighth MU student to receive the congressionally
funded Gilman since the program began in 2001, according to
Thelma Rohrer ’84, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities
and director of MU’s study abroad program.
“My service project is intended to generate interest in studying
abroad in Japan and get students to look into the Hokusei program
more than ever,” says Haylee. “Access to education that reaches
beyond our corners of the world is the key to creating a world that
is more peaceful and understanding,” she adds. “By bringing people
from different backgrounds together, we can play a part in improving
global society.”