Student Profiles

2019 Rowe Scholar: Jerome Jacobs

Posted on by
Jerome Jacobs

Jerome Jacobs is originally from Boston, MA but graduated from Rockville High School in Vernon, CT. He says that science has always been his passion, especially learning about how human intelligence and cutting-edge technology could not only improve our daily well-being but also invent ways to save our lives from currently incurable or unknown diseases. Therefore, at UConn he is majoring in biomedical engineering and planning to pursue a career that would advance both scientific and health care fields. He has Lifeguarding/First Aid/CPR/AED certification and has volunteered for two years with an event that raises money for the Special Olympics. Jerome has been a cellist for ten years and has performed with the Connecticut Youth Symphony and Connecticut All-State Orchestra. He has given free concerts at Hartford Hospital. Jerome has traveled to over 15 countries, included the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea, and hopes to take advantage of education abroad while at UConn to learn about health care systems in other countries.

2019 Rowe Scholar: Jaydel Hernandez

Posted on by
Jaydel Hernandez

Jaydel Hernandez is a biology major but is thinking about adding a minor or double major in a politics-related field to help in her pursuit of a career as a doctor who practices abroad. Originally from Guatemala, she grew up watching her father give back to their community in that country, and they are working on plans to open an orphanage there. Jaydel has attended a program at Johns Hopkins University that allowed her to experience inserting an IV and suturing. She has also completed a course at Greenwich Hospital where she learned about the responsibilities of each medical department. Additionally she completed an internship program at a center for mentally disabled patients. Jaydel is from Greenwich, CT and a graduate of Greenwich High School.

2019 Rowe Scholar: Leroy Griffiths, Jr.

Posted on by
Leroy Griffiths, Jr.

Leroy Griffiths, Jr. began his foray into the health professions when he was just nine years old and became a member of the Red Cross Foundation. Through this program he has volunteered at children’s homes, blood drives, and nursing homes. He’s majoring in physiology and neurobiology, which he feels aligns closely with his aspiration to become a neurosurgeon. Leroy loves to dance and has been a member of several cultural dance groups and teams, which he says makes dance a major part of his life. Born in Brooklyn, NY but raised in Jamaica, Leroy moved to back to the US in the seventh grade and now lives in Bloomfield, CT where he graduated from Bloomfield High School.

2019 Rowe Scholar: Angelo Franco

Posted on by
Angelo Franco

Angelo Franco will be a biomedical engineering major with a potential double major in economics. His interest in economics stems from the fact that his family owns several restaurants. He’s a fluent Spanish speaker who loves photography and was a high school swimmer. He’s from East Hartford, CT where he graduated from the Connecticut IB Academy. Angelo has participated in UConn Health’s Health Career Opportunity Program’s High School Student Research Apprentice Program, where he researched bone regeneration, sparking his interest in biomedical engineering. He has also shadowed family and friends who work in health care.

2019 Rowe Scholar: Tiffany Addy

Posted on by
Tiffany Addy

Tiffany Addy shares the same middle name with eight of her first female cousins. She was born in Ghana, West Africa but lives in Farmington, CT where she graduated from Farmington High School. A physiology and neurobiology major, she has volunteered at John Dempsey Hospital for two summers, working hand-in-hand with professionals to provide care to patients. She has also participated in the Inspiring Women and Medicine Workshop, which exposed her to the field of orthopaedic surgery and engineering. As a senior in high school she was a member of the UConn Health Career Opportunities Program’s Senior Doctors Academy, where she shadowed at Pediatrics Associates of Farmington and conducted research on the neurocognitive effects of early childhood leukemia treatment on the brains of children between the ages of three and 10.

2018 Rowe Scholar: Stacy-Ann Wallen

Posted on by

Stacy-Ann WallenStacy-Ann Wallen is a budding author and nurse. She writes chapter books which she hopes to publish someday, and she’s volunteered at Saint Francis Hospital for two years. She’s worked in the Radiology Department, assisting nurses, discharging and admitting patients, delivering lunches, and sanitizing and making beds. She’s also worked with congestive heart failure patients, walking them around the hospital to keep them active. At UConn Hartford she volunteered for a blood drive. Stacy-Ann is from Hartford and graduated from William Hall High School in West Hartford, CT.

2018 Rowe Scholar: Tyra Vanriel

Posted on by

Tyra VanrielTyra Vanriel grew up in Westchester, NY but loves to visit family in Jamaica and enjoy the beautiful island. She finished her last three years of high school in Connecticut, graduating from Greenwich High School. Tyra has interned with Greenwich Ear, Nose, and Throat, where she learned about common ENT complaints and how to examine patients. She has also done a rotation in the Emergency Room at Danbury Hospital and spent time on an ambulance to learn more about emergency care. Tyra will soon become a nutritional sciences major with a minor in biological sciences.

2018 Rowe Scholar: Maifrak Sobrino

Posted on by

Maifrak SobrinoMaifrak Sobrino’s name comes from a combination of her parents’ names. ‘Mai’, for her mother Maira, and ‘frak’ for her father Frank. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Maifrak moved when she was 10 to Norwich, CT and eventually graduated from Norwich Free Academy. She is now a nursing major with a psychology minor and potentially an additional minor in HDFS. Her goal is to become a neonatal APRN because she enjoys working with infants. As a teenager, Maifrak began working at Norwichtown Rehab, which she credits as the place where she found her passion for health care and nursing. It has given her an understanding of the health care needs of the elderly, taught her to have patience with the people with whom she’s working, and how to juggle multiple tasks. Maifrak is also CPR certified and has taken a Stop the Bleed course. Last summer Maifrak spent three weeks in Prague, Czech Republic, which she says is the best decision she made in college and she encourages others to study abroad.

2018 Rowe Scholar: Faria Mahjabin

Posted on by

Faria MahjabinFaria Mahjabin is a biological sciences major and a potential math minor. She loves to learn languages and is currently fluent in four. Her next language to acquire is Spanish. Faria is from Stamford, CT and is currently working as an ER medical scribe at Stamford Hospital. She has also shadowed doctors at NY Presbyterian Hospital. Faria is a graduate of Westhill High School.