Helping people through biomedical innovation

Justine Burke, Undergraduate Student

Hometown: Hamburg, NY
Degree Program: B.S. in biomedical engineering '24, concentrating in biomaterials and drug delivery (BMDD); minor in global health
Advisor/lab affiliation: Shaoyi Jiang Lab
Awards/honors: Engineering Learning Initiative funding award (Summer 2021)
Justine Burke on LinkedIn

Why Cornell biomedical engineering?

I knew I wanted to major in biomedical engineering because the prospect of studying the intersection of engineering and medicine intrigued me. Although I was unsure what I wanted to do after graduation, I knew I wanted to help people through innovation. Biomedical engineering combines the critical thinking and problem solving of engineering with the biology and physiology of disease, which prepares you for a future in a plethora of fields. The major also allowed me to pursue a minor in Global Health, which has encouraged me to apply social perspectives and frameworks to my biomedical engineering education. I chose to concentrate on biomaterials and drug delivery through my research in the Jiang Lab, where I became interested in how biomaterials used in drugs can play a role in delivery mechanisms.

Tell us about your undergraduate experience at Cornell.

One of my best experiences at Cornell was being a member of Cornell Engineering World Health. I joined the integrative design sub-team my freshman year, and it was a great opportunity to make an immediate real-world impact through collaborative design and to develop low-cost solutions to global health problems. My favorite project was redesigning a low-cost, pain-management device for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at BC Children’s Hospital for implementation in Malawi. 

Another major highlight was the opportunity to participate in the Cornell-Tanzania exchange program, which was the perfect experiential learning opportunity for my interests and my Global Health minor requirement. Along with being immersed in a new culture, I got hands-on experience working in hospitals to repair medical devices and I shadowed doctors to better understand the healthcare climate in Tanzania. This experience affirmed my decision to pursue medical school to become a doctor and impact global health one day.

Nonacademic highlights of my time at Cornell have been participating in different clubs that let me continue doing things I love, and also finding new passions. My favorites were playing violin in Cornell Open Orchestra, playing club field hockey, and being on the club triathlon team!

What’s next?

After graduation, I will take two gap years before medical school to do a postbaccalaureate at the National Institutes of Health in the National Cancer Institute with Dr. Jonathan Hernandez. The summer after my sophomore year I interned in the Hernandez Lab researching the tumor microenvironment using a novel ex-vivo perfusion system, and I am thrilled to be returning to the place that piqued my interest in pursuing medical school. Participating in the biomedical engineering clinical immersion program that following winter solidified my decision. The immersion program exposed me to such a broad spectrum of medical specialties, and I got to see how much biomedical engineering and medicine are truly intertwined. 

If you could talk to your freshman-year self now, what would you say?

I would tell my freshman-year self that it’s okay to struggle. Struggling is not failure and does not mean you are any less smart or capable—it’s an opportunity to learn, adapt and grow. Just keep working hard, and everything else will work itself out. The most important thing I would tell myself, though, would be to cherish every little moment of college. There are so many amazing opportunities and experiences that are going to happen over the next four years, and the time flies by so fast (too fast)!

Anything else?

I would like to give immense thanks to all the biomedical engineering and Cornell faculty that have supported me over the last four years. Above all, I would like to thank all of my classmates. I would not be here without the help and support we share with each other.