Harvard grad follows a passion for global health
This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates. Since childhood, Cynthia Luo knew she wanted to be a physician. In high school, she discovered a passion for cancer immunology research while working in the lab of a biotech company. After spending part of a gap year volunteering at a rural health clinic in Uganda, she aspired to have an impact on global health. At Harvard, she put all of these dreams together. After her first year, the Leverett House resident began working in the lab of Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases Pardis Sabeti, and co-authored papers on the development of a new diagnostic test for Zika virus and for a method to test for Zika, chikungunya, and dengue. Luo would later co-author another paper, on the persistence of Ebola virus in bodily fluids, and is currently working with scientists in...