Liberian Gets Ph.D. in Molecular Biology
Graduates Shortly from Medical School
By Alaskai Moore Johnson
Published: 15 May, 2007
Source of this article: Daily Observer - Monrovia, Liberia
USA, May 16, 2007: A young Liberian scholar from Grand Bassa County on March 11 received the doctorate degree in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America.
Dr. Emmanuel Paye Bessay, a product of St. Peter Claver's Catholic High School in Lower Buchanan, is also a candidate for the doctorate degree in Medicine from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
He did his undergraduate studies at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, obtaining the B.Sc. in 2000.
Dr. Bessay said his long term goal is to do “a residency in surgery along with biomedical research.”
Born March 29, 1971, Bessay graduated as valedictorian at St. Peter Claver in Buchanan. “Because of the war, I was unable to acquire college credits immediately after graduation from high school, although I was admitted to the University of Liberia College of Science and Technology and attended classes for about six weeks.”
“However, during the war, I volunteered my services to the Holy Family Clinic, a private hospital. It was during this period (1990-1993) that my interest in medicine was heightened,” he asserted.
A young man bustling with energy, Dr. Bessay is already a member of several medical, scientific and student organizations, including the American Medical Association American College of Physicians and the Student National Medical Association, of which he is vice president for communications.
Dr. Bessay is also a member, American Medical Student Association Northwestern University Alliance for International Development, Illinois State Medical Society and the Chicago Medical Society.
The young Liberian scientific scholar is also a member of the Vanderbilt University AIDS/HIV Outreach Program and of the Vandy-Med Soccer Team.
He was awarded the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Summer Internship (University of Cincinnati Medical Center, summer, 2007), which is one of 30 positions awarded nation-wide.
He was also the recipient of the International Student Scholarship, a four-year scholarship awarded for academic distinction and high character; the Harry Yeatman Award for leadership and excellence in biology; and is mentioned in Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities (2000)
In the Spring of 2000, Dr. Bessay also received the Best Student Paper Presentation, Tennessee Academy of Science
He is also a member of the Order of Gownsmen, the academic honor society, president, Alpha Epsilon Delta, the Premed honor society; and a member, Society of Sewanee Scholars.
Dr. Bessay is also the author of a number of scientific publications in his various medical and scientific fields.
He is fluent in his native Bassa language as well as interm
