The Biomedical Club meets in room 318 every other Monday during CT and serves as a space for anyone interested in science, medicine or biology to explore their curiosities. The club was founded in 2021 by alumni Alec Silberg (‘24), Lilli Libowitz (‘24) and Reut Skromne (‘24).
Juniors Maya Greenblum and Jennifer Kelner, co-presidents of the club, plan various activities and presentations. The club prides itself on the fact that no two meetings are the same. Under Maya and Kelner’s leadership, there have been presentations about Artificial Intelligence, ancient medicine, anthropology and Jewish blood genealogy. There have also been many interactive activities offered such as suturing bananas, building DNA double helices out of candy and writing thank you letters to health care workers.
“We offer so many unique opportunities that I don’t think many other clubs offer…,” Kelner said. “It’s more than just the presentations and activities that we’re doing in the club that we offer. It’s really the connections we give our members to top alumni who are now in the medical field and other medical professionals out there.”
Besides the meetings spent learning about the medical field, the club also promotes volunteer opportunities for members to join. An opportunity that Maya and Kelner brought to the Biomedical Club under their leadership is the Emory Neuroscience Student Association (ENSA) at Emory University. Three students are currently involved in the program where Maya’s sister Dalia Greenblum (‘24) is the freshman representative.
The ENSA is a program where high school students can design a research project, formulate a research proposal and work with college students who are currently studying medicine at Emory University. Students involved in this program meet with a representative from Emory University weekly, send their final proposals to private investigators and researchers at Emory University and wait to hear back for potential feedback or if their proposal is selected for further engagement.
“It’s a very rare opportunity that barely any students can get,” Maya said. “I think that’s very unique about our club, and it’s not one many people actually know about.”
The Biomedical Club also frequently invites guests to come speak to members during their meetings. Club advisor and athletic trainer Romi Nachman has helped Kelner and Maya bring in speakers from different areas of the medical field.
This year, the Biomedical Club welcomed a speech pathologist who helps patients with speech impediments and speech disorders. A second guest speaker was an audiologist who works with hearing aids.
“I really wanted to bring those people in, because those fields are very uncommon and not what people think of when they think of the medical world,” Nachman said. “… There’s so many different professions, and I think exposing students to those different professions is very important because you’re about to go to college, you’re about to try and figure out what you want to do after high school. So getting exposure to different settings and ways that we can give back to communities is extremely important.”
Both Maya and Kelner take pride in the variety of opportunities their club offers, including their educational presentations, interactive activities, volunteer opportunities and speakers. According to Kelner, she hopes to get more speakers for the club, and to spread more awareness about the club and what it does.
“As we all know, the medical field is expanding every day,” Kelner said. “New technology is always needed and always being created, so it’s an important field and the club is a good place to learn about it.”
