SUBMITTED PHOTO — Marshalltown High School graduate Jolcey Santana participates in a Mayo Clinic research program. She was chosen out of roughly 1,500 applicants.

From Marshalltown to Mayo Clinic, one of the highest ranked healthcare facilities in the world.

Former Marshalltown Community School District student Jolcey Santana knew she wanted to make medical research part of her future, and was chosen as part of Mayo Clinic’s summer program.

“I was given the honor and privilege to be chosen for this program,” she said. “It’s a 10-week program where I am paired with a lab and I get to learn new techniques (and) what their focus is in the lab. I get to work with a mentor on my own project. At the end of the summer, I get to present my own research.”

Upon learning the news she was chosen, Santana was surprised and excited.

“I think a lot of the time when you apply to such high quality, highly competitive programs, you kind of just apply and forget about it because you’re anxious about seeing the results,” she said. “When I found out I got in, I instantly called my mom. I was super excited because Mayo Clinic’s reputation is very high and it’s a wonderful opportunity. I’m very grateful for it.”

The Mayo Clinic has three facilities, with the primary being in Rochester, Minn. where Santana is located. The other two are in Arizona and Florida. The summer programs begin at the end of May and last until Aug. 1.

“Depending on what your interests are, you get placed in those areas,” Santana said. “There are 126 people in Rochester right now. I think there’s 14 people in Florida and then there are around 20 people in Arizona. In total, they had 1,400 applications.”

She said when people apply, they are asked to rank three potential lab candidates. She wanted to focus on a cardiovascular immunology research lab. Their focus is on atherosclerosis, which is plaque buildup in arteries and the cause of high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases.

“I’ve learned a whole bunch of techniques in regards to handling specimen samples,” Santana said. “Additionally, when we examine this kind of disease, and because it’s heart related, we have to look at specific tissue slides and markers on the heart. It’s a lot of hands-on work, but very interesting.”

Choosing her path

Santana, 20, graduated from Marshalltown High School in 2022 and began her post-secondary studies at Iowa State University, but was unsure of her path.

Her parents, David and Charlotte Santana, are extremely proud of how far Santana has gotten in her studies and accomplishments. When their daughter was a little girl, they confirmed she had no clue what she wanted to be.

“She had a deep love for animals and thought she would want to study marine biology,” David Santana said. “Soon after, she dropped the marine part and stuck with biology.”

Santana’s parents always enforced that education was important. She said they instilled in her the importance of at least trying, because if she did not, she might regret it. Santana said they have remained strong motivators and excellent support, even when she did not know what she wanted to do.

“For a while, I was kind of stuck on what I wanted to do because there are so many fields you can go into,” she said. “For the longest time, I thought I wanted to do animal ecology, but then I took that back. Before I went to college, I thought of courses I enjoyed in high school and biology was one.”

She explored options available at ISU and contacted people to determine what career might be right for her. After connecting with a professor, Santana stumbled onto microbiology. She went on a tour of the microbiology department at the college and became familiar with the program and she could fit into it. The discovery led to her microbiology major, along with a minor in global health.

Going into her senior year at ISU, Santana has decided to pursue higher education and obtain a doctorate degree. She plans to apply for various PhD programs during the fall months and hopes to get accepted.

“I really want to pursue conducting research on infectious diseases,” Santana said. “Specifically endemic diseases like in third world countries you hear about malaria or tuberculosis. All of those nasty diseases are affecting people in areas of need. I really aspire to conduct research on those diseases to help lessen the burden on those people. I would like to work in a lab with those goals or possibly start my own lab.”

Her career path fits as her parents said the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on her. However, the type of diseases she wants to study are different from COVID-19. Santana wants to focus on vector-borne diseases — those which are transmitted through the bite of infected organisms, such as ticks or mosquitoes.

“There is leishmania and mosquito borne diseases that can cause neurological problems,” she said. “I am highly interested in those, and all that nasty stuff.”

Santana wants to pursue vector-borne disease research because she enjoys the outcomes and wants to help a broad range of people.

“I think this career is a great choice for that,” she said. “I’m not in the forefront helping one person at a time like doctors are. I’m in the background trying to understand these diseases and figure out how to stop brutal disease outcomes for people suffering everyday from them.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.