Student Research Shines During ‘Evening of Excellence’
Kassel Galaty ’13
The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges’ annual Evening of Excellence program on April 10 in Columbus (OH) was complemented by an excellent presentation by OWU student researcher Kassel Galaty ’13, whose project entitled “The Infected Man Has Altogether Been Lost Sight Of” also was displayed at the center of the reception area of the Westin Hotel’s Grand Ballroom for all who attended the program to see.
Galaty, a history and pre-medicine double major with chemistry and zoology minors, has studied the work of Dr. William Budd, a nineteenth-century epidemiologist who was an early advocate of the germ theory of disease. She explains that by reading his publications and letters, it was clear that “one of the most important factors leading to the rise of the germ theory was the development of epidemiology.”
Because Budd and others began to study diseases in a new way, “they were able to see patterns and draw evidence-based conclusions that had not been previously possible,” says Galaty.
She was invited by OWU President Rock Jones and Gordon Brollier, president of OFIC to attend the program.
“I felt really honored to have been asked to present my research,” says Galaty, who admits to being a little nervous at first. “But everyone I spoke with was so kind and interested in my work, that by the night’s end, I had a great deal more confidence in both myself and in my ability to convey the value of my research.