April 17, 2008

Christina Ho.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior Christina Ho, 19, of Hoover, has received a Fulbright Scholarship to Vietnam to study possible causes behind the high rates of tuberculosis infection in that country.

Ho, who is a biology and pre-med major, will spend the 2008-2009 academic year in Vietnam studying and conducting research at the Haiphong Medical University Hospital in Haiphong and at the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Hanoi. Specifically, she will conduct tests to determine whether a correlation between inadequate medical waste management and tuberculosis distribution exists.

"I wanted to go to Vietnam and to do this project because I'm interested in becoming a physician specializing in infectious disease and because of my heritage," said Ho who speaks Vietnamese fluently. "My parents are from Vietnam so this trip will be meaningful for me. I've never been there before.

"Vietnam is one of the only Third World countries where the rate of tuberculosis infection is still high despite implementing the same prevention programs that have been effective in neighboring countries such as Thailand and Cambodia. I want to explore to see why this is happening."

Ho is a student in the UAB University Honors Program and in the UAB Early Medical School Acceptance Program (EMSAP). Under the direction of UAB researchers, she investigated entry checkpoints at which eukaryotic cells delay entry into mitosis in response to DNA damage to allow repair. In 2006 she was a presenter at the National Collegiate Honors Council annual conference.

Ho will graduate this May. She will begin medical school at UAB in the fall of 2009.

In addition to academics, Ho has been active on campus. In 2007 she won a grant from MTV for an organization she founded called Birmingham Recycling Initiative in the Community and on Campus (BRICC). The organization was created to organize recycling efforts in campus buildings.

Ho is a 2005 graduate of Hoover High School. She is the daughter of Dr. Matthew Ho and Dr. Xuan Dao Pham of Hoover.