Alexa Choy

Major: Biomedical Engineering (Pre-Med)

Alexa Choy is a third-year biomedical engineering student on the pre-medicine track. Alexa hopes to concentrate her studies in Biomechanics and Biomaterials or Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Engineering. She is currently a Pratt Engineering Undergraduate Fellow working with Dr. Robert Malkin on a research project concerning the delivery of anti-retroviral medication to mothers delivering at home, a problem highly relevant in preventing mother to child transmission of HIV in Africa. Consistent with her interests in bringing aid to the developing world, Alexa also is an active member in Duke’s chapter of Engineering World Health where she is working with a team of other undergraduates to design an x-ray intensity meter to be used in third-world countries. Additionally, she is an active member of Duke Global Medical Brigades, a student organization that travels with physicians and medical supplies to Honduras and Panama to set up clinics in rural communities, and participated in a brigade in Panama in August 2012. Alexa’s interest in the Boeing Grand Challenges K-12 Outreach Scholars Program stems from her wish that she had had more exposure to engineering before coming to college and her hope to inspire young students, especially females, to pursue careers in engineering. As a BME, she is particularly interested in the Grand Challenges of advancing health informatics, engineering better medicines, and reverse-engineering the brain. Additionally, after her service trip to Panama, she also became interested in the Challenge of providing access to clean water. Alexa has truly enjoyed working with K-12 students in the past as a Greek folk dance teacher and tutor, and she looks forward to continuing this as a Boeing Outreach Fellow.