Amie Fornah Sankoh Achieves a Scientific Dream

Credit: LinkedIn. “I wanted to give up so many times. Although I tried to remain positive, I never thought I’d be able to finish my Ph.D. But I made it, and I’m extremely proud of myself,” says Amie Fornah Sankoh, Ph.D., a research scientist with Dow Chemical Company who received NIGMS support as a graduate student. Human and Plant Communication Dr. Sankoh has loved science and mathematics since she was just a child growing up in Sierra Leone. When she was 3 years old, Dr. Sankoh became deaf from a childhood disease. Math, unlike other subjects, is very visual, which played a part in her interest in it. “Before I learned American Sign Language when I was 15 years old, I could only understand one language: mathematics,” Dr. Sankoh says. After mastering math in high school, Dr. Sankoh wanted a new challenge, so she explored and excelled in chemistry. She attended the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and earned an associate degree in laboratory science technology, followed by a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. At RIT NTID, Dr. Sankoh dove deep into research under the mentorship of Todd Pagano, Ph.D., exploring the antioxidant properties of tea and the effects of climate change on natural water sources by analyzing the chemicals found in those liquids. For the next step in her career path, Dr. Sankoh entered a biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology Ph.D. program. Unfortunately, the ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology Profiles Training Source Type: blogs