Two diplomas in one month for Delphos Grad

DELPHOS – Lizzie Chang graduated from Delphi Jefferson High School on Saturday.

It was her second graduation this month.

She graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in biology nearly two weeks earlier.

“My ultimate goal is to enter Harvard Medical School with a Ph.D. / Ph.D. a program to study neurosurgery and biophysics, ”Lizzie said. “It gives me more opportunities to participate in higher-level research and improve the skills I’m currently working on.”

There were some twists and turns in Lisa’s life, but she was always motivated to succeed. She devoted a lot of time to caring for her father. Her father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002 a year before Lisa was born. When Lizzie was in eighth grade, her father’s health deteriorated. It was then that Lizzie decided to take courses in college that would make her a more flexible schedule so she could help her parents with care. Her father, Howard, died of complications of multiple sclerosis on July 30, 2018, before the plan was implemented. She still continued her studies in college under the College Credit Plus program.

“I think my siblings and I had to make mature decisions or maybe show a little more maturity than someone usually at that age, just because our dad was in the hospital when we were growing up,” she said.

This summer, Lizzie will be doing an internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studying biological engineering. She thinks her research will include vaccine data with machine learning and something with immunotherapy, but nothing is certain.

“I’m very interested in immunology and neuroimmunology because I’m really interested in multiple sclerosis,” she said.

She has worked at Ohio, MIT and Harvard. In Ohio, she participated in microbiological studies of the biomechanisms of genetically engineered bacterial cells. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she conducted research in chemical engineering with genomic engineering. At Harvard, she researched COVID data analysis. Lizzie worked in the program of biostatistics and computational biology at Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan.

Although she went to college at age 14, it’s not all books for Lisa. She hosts a podcast called “Doc Talk With Liz”. In her podcast, Lizzie talks to researchers and physicians covering a wide range of topics, including cell biology, neurobiology, art therapy, biophysics, and protein engineering. Sport is also a part of her life. She was on the university’s high school football team for four years. Her social life is like other teenagers.

“I spend time with people,” she said. “I am not anti-social. I love spending time with my friends and I love going out and doing something. I love to travel when I can. I love to draw. I love watching movies. I do a lot of things besides studying. ”

Long-term goals include returning to the community. “I want to invest in research centers in the Lima and Delphi areas because I’ve noticed through what I’ve done that a lot of people who get into really the best institutions have had a lot of opportunities at the beginning of their lives.”

Sister Lizzie Alex claims the obvious when describing her sister.

“She’s very motivated and she’s really set up to achieve her goals,” she said. “She never forgets her family, which is always good.”

The Chung League had many experiences that not every teenager can even imagine. Her experience and family ties will continue to serve as motivators as she tries to unravel the mysteries of multiple sclerosis.

Lizzie Chung graduated from Delphi Jefferson High School with honors and a honors degree nearly two weeks after graduating with a degree in biology from Ohio State University.

Lizzie Chung

Lizzie Chung with her sister Alex

Contact Dean Brown at 567-242-0409.