From Patient to Healer — The Texas Scientist

Ananya Tirumala, Neuroscience Honors Senior

Ananya Tirumala, neuroscience honors senior, is preparing for a career in medicine.

Interviewed by Sowmya Sridhar.

How did having serious health challenges during childhood factor into your journey to UT?
It wasn’t easy, but it’s shaped a huge part of who I am today. It’s given me an early appreciation for strength and resilience and showed me how much of a difference compassionate doctors and nurses can make on a patient’s life. Now I view my past as a source of strength that’s shaped my identity, rather than something that holds me back. Being at UT has given me a space to reflect and explore that part of my story further. I took Cancerland, a small-group discussion class that dives deeply into how cancer affects patients, families and communities. It reshaped how I think about illness and identity.

Talk about your experiences at Dell Children’s Medical Center, both as a patient and volunteer, and how that influenced your honors thesis?
Spending a lot of time at Dell Children’s growing up gave me an up-close perspective of the scary side of illness but also what a supportive hospital community looks like. The care I received from doctors and the entire health care team made me want to contribute to the same place that gave so much to me. My most fulfilling experience there has been this past summer volunteering in the Children’s Blood and Cancer Center, which is where I was treated, getting to talk to and play with some of the kids there. Using this experience as a focus for my thesis on family perspectives within pediatric oncology has been a fulfilling way of connecting my lived experiences with my own academic curiosity.

“The care I received … made me want to contribute to the same place that gave so much to me.”

After you graduate, what do you plan to do?
I’m planning to pursue a career in medicine. What excites me is this incredible chance to combine science with compassion and to care for people with the same empathy and dedication that I witnessed in health care. Medicine, to me, isn’t just about treating an illness. It’s about being there for people during some of the hardest moments of their life. I’d also love to bring more creativity to the field, and I hope to build a career where patients can feel seen and supported.

You mentor first-year students in the Freshman Research Initiative. What’s that like, and what advice do you share with them?
FRI has been one of the most impactful parts of UT for me. I’m in the Biobricks stream, and we do research on a cancer mutation. Even as a freshman, FRI gave me hands-on experience in a research lab, which has helped me feel more confident in my abilities as a scientist and a researcher. Now being on the other side of things, it’s been rewarding being able to mentor first-year students. I love helping them find their footing.

For advice, I’d tell students to stay true to their passions. For me, that’s art. Even while focusing on science, I’ve continued to paint. I’ve also been able to explore that passion through Texas Design and Health, which is a relatively new organization that my friends and I started. We’re connected with UT’s Master of Arts in Design and Health program, and we hope to bridge the disciplines of science and art.