Though she doesn’t yet have the credentials M.D. behind her name, Saint Mary’s senior Kynzie Smedsrud is already collaborating on potential lifesaving research — research that could one day help women fighting breast cancer. Smedsrud’s summer internship at Gundersen Medical Foundation’s Kabara Cancer Research Institute gave her a hands-on experience that far exceeded her expectations. A biochemistry major from Luverne, Minn., Smedsrud was a Saint Mary’s University Fellow at Gundersen, an academic collaboration brought about through 1958 alumnus Dr. Jon Kabara (now deceased) and his wife Betty, founders of the Kabara Cancer Research Institute in La Crosse, Wis. The experience at Gundersen gave Smedsrud an opportunity to see what choices she has as she looks toward her future. Smedsrud intends to apply to medical school this fall, a dream she set her sights on in the ninth grade, and will hopefully start continuing her education the following year. Read the full story.
Photo courtesy of Gundersen Health.