Bishop’s girl gets PhD scholarship in infectious disease
FORMER Bishop’s High School student Angela Hopkinson has
been named a Michigan Infectious Disease International
Scholar and has commenced reading for her doctorate.
Hokinson, now a poster girl for York College of the City
University of New York in the their recruitment drive, was
named a 2007 Jonas E. Salk scholar for her research efforts.
Born and raised in Georgetown, Hopkinson entered the
Associates Medical Technology program at the University of
Guyana when she completed Bishop’s High School at the age
of 16. She had chalked up three distinctions among the five
Grade One’s she achieved at the Caribbean Education
Certificate Exams offered by the Caribbean Examinations
Angela Hopkinson
Council. She also scored three Grade Twos in that exam.< BR>
At the University of Guyana, her interests in hematology and medical microbiology grew due to
the elevated incidence of diseases such as HIV, cancers, and malaria.
Having worked at the Georgetown hospital’s microbiology lab for a year, she realized that she
wanted to contribute not only by performing routine medical testing, but in a way that would
impact society.
So she focused her career aspirations on biomedical research, and gained entry to the
biotechnology bachelors' degree program at York College of the City University of New York
(CUNY).
Ms. Hopkinson excelled at CUNY, piloting research on tRNA biosynthesis. Apart from the
scholarship, she also earned co-authorships on tw o publications - the Journal of Molecular
Biology and RNA.
The focus of her PhD research at Michigan includes human papilloma virus/cervical cancer,
ulcer-causing helicobacter, toxoplasma and other parasitic pathogens, and HIV.
Her father, Lloyd, and her mother, Priscilla, are excited about her achievements and count her as
always being a “bright” girl.
Her father recalls that she graduated as the Best Medical Technology student at the University of
Guyana.