Elkhart Times

UCS grad honored as difference maker by U of M Dearborn

Nicole Corso’s life-long love of science and its power to make a difference can be traced all the way back to Bruce Collins Elementary’s Science Olympiad.

Now, the 2012 Utica Community Schools graduate has been honored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn for her work to improve her community as a scientist and volunteer.

"To be recognized for my accomplishments at the beginning of my scientific career is incredible and is very motivating for me to continue on in my career,” Corso said. “I hope to share this honor with other first generation college women and women pursuing STEM careers that I will meet and learn from on the way.””

Corso was recognized in September by the University of Michigan-Dearborn with the Difference Maker award as the Alumnus of the Year from the past decade.

Corso, a graduate from Stevenson High School, is currently working in the Department of Neurology at Stanford University as a Data and Imaging Research Scientist. Her work is focused on brain and muscle research and how chronic neurological disease progresses.  She also volunteers virtually with Ele’s Place, a local non-profit based in Ann Arbor, and serves on the UM-Dearborn CASL Scholarship Selection Committee.

In announcing the award, the university noted Corso “is a rising star in the Psychology field with a deep passion for community service and learning.”

For Corso, the field of science allows her to purse a natural curiosity and her interest in always asking questions.

“With the brain specifically, it's incredibly fascinating that our everyday lives depend so heavily on its function, but there is so much we still do not know about how the brain works,” she said. “Being a neuroscientist, my questions will never be fully answered, and I will continuously come up with new ones to work through and that is very satisfying for me to lead with my curiosity.”

This link between science and curiosity had its origins after her fourth-grade teacher, Mark Binkowski, suggested the school’s Science Olympiad team.

“As a young student, I was given the opportunity to study different topics in science in a more in depth and in many ways advanced manner. Not to mention, it was a lot of fun to use my curiosity and knowledge as a competitive tool,” she said. “My interests continued into middle school where I was able to take an innovative technology education course which resulted in me being awarded the student of the year in that subject.”

Nearly 20 years later, she is now working as a Data and Imaging Research Scientist in the Department of Neurology at Stanford University in the Day Lab led by Dr. John W. Day, MD, PhD. She works with patients with neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases exploring disease progression using multimodal imaging techniques combined with genetic, cognitive, and biofluid analyses. She hopes to pursue a doctorate degree in the near future.

Original source can be found here.