Elizabethtown College alumna Christina Angelucci ’18 has been serving as a lead researcher in a new cutting-edge COVID-19 treatment trial for the Main Line Health Hospital System in Philadelphia.
Angelucci, who majored in Biology while at Etown, has been running the I-SPY COVID-19 trial, working as a liaison between the clinical staff and those sponsoring the study.
The I-SPY trial provides access to four pioneering drugs that are administered in addition to pre-existing therapies. The trial is available to the most critically ill COVID-19 patients—only those requiring a ventilator, or a high volume of oxygen are eligible. Therapies found to be effective will progress into a larger study while ineffective drugs are removed.
Angelucci gained career experience during her time at Etown, working as a liaison for the Biology Department, a lab TA, and a peer tutor for her Genetics course.
“If it wasn’t for the relationships I cultivated at Etown, I wouldn’t know some of my most valuable strengths that I now carry through when speaking to patients, coworkers, and physicians,” Angelucci said.
Angelucci shines light on the close-knit campus community provided by Etown, describing the multitude of opportunities offered during her College career. She encourages current Blue Jays to optimize all the resources at their disposal.
“Utilize your professors and all of the knowledge they contain,” Angelucci said. “The best thing I did while at Etown was understand that I went to a small school for a reason, and that was to absorb all it had to offer.”
