MILWAUKEE — A junior at Alverno College is one of 15 undergraduates nationwide chosen for an internship this summer with the National Institutes of Health.

Ameera Pearsall is also the only student in Wisconsin to make the list.

“At first, I didn’t realize there were only 15 people that got in,” Pearsall said. “I was in shock for a couple days and then I was super excited.”

Pearsall will conduct research with some of the world’s leading scientists in their field. The biomedical sciences major has always had a passion for helping others.

This internship is a big step forward in achieving Pearsall’s goal of doing that through science.

“We’ll be looking at the structural differences in the brain of someone who struggles with alcohol dependence compared to someone who doesn’t,” Pearsall said. “What are those differences?”

The Amgen Scholars Program at the NIH teaches student how to turn laboratory observations into interventions that improve the health of others. Pearsall is eager to get started.

“My purpose in science right now is to make life easier for other people,” Pearsall said. “I never like to do anything without a purpose.”

The college junior realized a love for helping others during childhood.

“My parents instilled it in me and my grandparents, too,” Pearsall said. “Everyone I know is involved in the community in some way.”

Pearsall has taken this passion for community service to Alverno College’s food pantry. Pearsall volunteers there.

“If you can help people, you do it,” Pearsall said. “If you can’t, you do the best you can.”

Health disparities and inequities have always been top of mind for the psychology minor. Pearsall plans to pursue graduate school and explore the long-term effects of mental health disorders.

“Mental health is very important to me,” Pearsall said. “People who need treatment aren’t receiving treatment and don’t know where to get it, so I want to be part of the solution.”

That’s why Pearsall created an app that connects those struggling with mental health issue to resources, a crisis hotline, and therapists nearby.

“I wanted to have a resource database because I think the issue is access to information,” Pearsall said. “Community building is very important as well, so I wanted to have a place where people could post and ask questions.”

The app is still in the early stages of development, but Pearsall hopes to build a team and launch it when this time is right.   

“We have a care match questionnaire where you answer questions and based on that, we give you recommendations,” Pearsall said. “It also was really important to me to have therapists on there with diverse backgrounds.”

Pearsall plans to graduate in December 2023 and pursue a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. Pearsall also plans to pursue autism research after college.