UMD Senior Biological Sciences Major Amira Collison Awarded Fulbright Scholarship

Amira Collison, a University of Maryland senior majoring in biological sciences with a specialization in physiology and neurobiology and minoring in Spanish languages and culture, has been awarded a 2016-17 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to teach English in Spain.

Amira Collison

While in Spain, Collison will teach, provide assistance to the local English teachers and serve as a cultural ambassador for the United States. Building on her volunteer work at the Community Clinic in Silver Spring, Md., Collison intends to learn more about Spain’s healthcare system by volunteering at a local health clinic serving undocumented immigrants.

“My desire to improve conditions for underserved minorities through health education motivated me to pursue a Fulbright English teaching assistantship in Spain,” said Collison. “Education is an essential component of medicine. My experience in Spain will allow me to effectively communicate with and educate medically underserved populations in the U.S and abroad.”

For the past two summers, Collison served as a MEDLIFE volunteer in Ecuador and Peru assisting physicians in mobile medical clinics. Passionate about education, Collison used her Spanish language skills and teaching experience to educate patients on behavioral and lifestyle changes that would improve their health and help reduce their risk for disease.

After returning from her year in Spain, Collison will attend medical school at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. As a physician, she intends to provide effective preventive health care education and improve the quality and access to health care for minorities in underserved areas.

Collison is a member of the Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) program in the university’s Honors College, a Banneker/Key Scholar and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. She realized her passion for education while serving as the chief student coordinator for ILS’s tutoring program, Foundations in Science and Health (FISH), at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Md. FISH provides underrepresented and disadvantaged students from low-income backgrounds the support necessary to pursue higher education. 

Media Relations Contact: Abby Robinson, 301-405-5845, abbyr@umd.edu

Writer:  Mary Kearney

University of Maryland
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College Park, MD 20742
www.cmns.umd.edu
@UMDscience

About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.

About the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 8,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college's 10 departments and six interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $250 million.