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Duke Student and Alumna Awarded Luce Scholarships

Luce scholarships

Alessondra Speidel and Charlotte Lee will study in Asia under a Luce Scholarship.

Duke Senior Charlotte Lee and Duke alumna Alessondra Speidel, a 2011 graduate, have both won a Luce Scholarship for 2015-16.

The award provides stipends for living and professional placement in Asia. Established in 1974 by the Henry Luce Foundation of New York City, the fellowship program’s goal is to enhance the understanding of Asia among potential leaders of American society. Eighteen scholars were chosen from among 156 nominees.

“I am so thankful to have been selected as a Luce Scholar,” said Lee. “This is such an amazing opportunity to both develop professionally and gain new perspectives on Asian culture.”

Lee is a public policy major, with minors in chemistry and global health. She successfully coordinated the first ever New York City Hepatitis B Awareness Week during a Summer 2014 internship with the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in Chinatown. 

Lee has conducted HIV/AIDS and nutrition research in Kenya through DukeEngage WISER. Her research in Peru, through Bass Connections, focused on the environmental epidemiology of mercury used in artisanal gold mining.

“I was excited to apply to the Luce program because I've done some global health work in Peru and Kenya through Duke Global Health Institute, but had very little prior exposure to Asian health issues,” said Lee. “The language training and fully individualized placements are also invaluable assets of this fellowship that not many similar programs provide.” 

The exact location and placement for Lee in Asia will be decided later. Lee, a certified emergency medical technician, plans to attend medical school and become an OB/GYN with a focus on international maternal and child health issues. 

Duke alumna Alessondra Speidel, a Marshall Scholar who is currently completing her Ph.D. in Tissue Engineering at Imperial College London, was a Baldwin Scholar and member of the Duke University Women’s Varsity Swim Team. She majored in biomedical engineering. As a Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellow, Speidel’s research project, in Dr. Kam Leong’s lab, manipulated the topography of cell culture surfaces to improve drug delivery.

“I pursued a placement in a world-leading laboratory in cell sheet engineering based in Tokyo,” said Speidel of her plans with the Luce award. She will work as a post-doctorate researcher with Teruo Okano's research group at Tokyo Women's Medical University.

“The idea of being able to combine an amazing opportunity to progress my research interests with an intensive, immersive experience in a new country is an adventure that I cannot wait to begin. I find this to be the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Speidel's goal is to go to medical school and become a physician scientist.

Speidel and Lee will begin their fellowship orientations in New York City at the end of June.