By: Ashley Bergeron
Staff-Writer
There are so many iconic women here on campus, one article can’t do them all justice. For now, we’ll start with five women who are making an impact on the community.
Marizela Alic
Marizela Alic is a senior majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. She is the vice president of the Pre-Health Professions Club (PHPC) and is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She volunteers to care for babies at Memorial Hospital, where she also works as a patient care technician and phlebologist. Alic researched RSV at Ivy Tech and plans on doing research with Bioinformatics Professor Dr. Murli Nair this summer.
Growing up, Alic was very sick, and she said her parents – who are from Bosnia – did everything they could for her. Her experiences with doctors motivated her to become a pediatrician and help make children comfortable when they need medical care. Her parents are her biggest inspirations and she wants to make them proud.
If you could tell girls interested in STEM one thing, what would it be?
“Do what your mind tells you to do, cause you are enough.”
Nicole Pudlo
Nicole Pudlo is a junior majoring in nursing. She’s the president of the Student Nurses Association (SNA) and vice president of the Male Nurses Alliance Club (MNAC). She’s also the marketing executive for the Honors Council and works for Titan Teams.
In 2022, Pudlo received her certified nursing assistant (CNA) license and worked in acute rehab to help patients come back from incidents like strokes and car accidents. In 2023, she started as a Short-Term Relief Sitter (Star Sitter) at Memorial Hospital, but quickly transitioned into an open position on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as an Infant Nutritionist Tech (INT) and has been in that position since.
Working in the NICU has been one of her dreams, so she’s happy to have it come true and hopes to stay there when she becomes a registered nurse (RN), also aiming for ambulance and helicopter transfer certification. Pudlo was admitted to the IU South Bend nursing program in 2024, which she said is her greatest achievement so far.
Pudlo excelled in STEM classes in high school and took Project Lead the Way courses geared toward healthcare careers. Most of her family members work in STEM, with her sister attending IUPUI and IUN for her nursing degrees. Pudlo said this has inspired and strengthened her commitment to become a nurse.
If you could tell girls interested in STEM one thing, what would it be?
“With enough determination, you can achieve anything. Do not let anyone hold you back from achieving your dreams! Regardless of your circumstances, there is so many scholarship opportunities available, so apply to as many as you can.”
Dhruval Chaudhari
Dhruval Chaudhari is a senior majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry and math. She is originally from India and came to Osceola about eight years ago. Now, she is chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee as an SGA senator and works on the Campus Involvement Committee and the Honors Council. Chaudhari has published two research papers and researched with chemistry Professor Dr. Grace Muna.
This semester, Chaudhari received the Inclusion Impact Award and a Wolfson Outstanding Senior of the Year Award, and she was nominated for Chancellor’s Outstanding Student Employee and the Centellas Leadership Award.
She wants to be a dermatologist and hopes to open her own practice. Chaudhari said she has always loved science and wants to make her parents proud, as they started with nothing and have supported her so much.
If you could tell girls interested in STEM one thing, what would it be?
“Don’t let anyone stop you from dreaming. And if your dreams aren’t big and scary, they aren’t big enough.”
Kaitlyn Burns
Kaitlyn Burns is a sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in criminal justice. She is president of the Psychology Club and the American Red Cross Club. While she doesn’t have a career picked out yet, she knows she wants to help adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, so she has been researching home care or care management for this population.
Burns said she chose STEM because she has always been fascinated with psychology. In her opinion, using science to understand how the mind works and how to help other people in need is the most interesting.
“You can learn so much from people and humanity through research and different experimental methods,” Burns states.
If you could tell girls interested in STEM one thing, what would it be?
Burns said she would tell young girls pursuing STEM to never let anyone tell them that they’re not good enough for their field, and that they can do anything they set their mind to, no matter what anyone says.
Elizabeth Hayes
Elizabeth Hayes is finishing her biology degree after spending six years in the Army. She has done research with a team in Dr. Shahir Rizk’s lab, a biochemistry professor at IU South Bend, where they studied the polymerization of the protein PhuZ and learned how to visualize it using AI modeling. She is also a Spanish tutor and works at ADEC caring for individuals with severe physical and intellectual disabilities.
Hayes said she enjoys studying protein structure and hopes to get a master’s or PhD in molecular biology or biochemistry. She said she chose STEM because it is “real-world magic.”
If you could tell girls interested in STEM one thing, what would it be?
“You can do anything you decide you’re going to do. If it makes you happy, go for it. Yes, there might be obstacles, but you’ll figure them out as you go.”
Want to celebrate an IU South Bend woman in STEM? Contact me at [email protected].
