Photo by Fred LeBlanc

When Kiyoko Takahashi '01 came to Mount Holyoke four years ago, she intended to major in international relations. But an introductory course in biology, which she took to satisfy a distribution requirement, inspired an entirely new passion. Graduating this month with a bachelor's degree in biology, she is completing a thesis on cell adhesion molecules in microscopic organisms known as dictyostelium discoideum and has just been awarded a Fulbright fellowship for a year in Japan to study cancer prevention.

Takahashi says she was surprised by the news of her fellowship and is "immensely grateful for the opportunity to study abroad." As one of twelve students from a nationwide pool of applicants selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship board for projects in Japan, she will conduct research in the development of chemotherapeutic agents derived from traditional medicines and natural resources. The fellowship will support tuition costs, housing, travel, and living expenses, and also includes Japanese-language study. While her exact location has not yet been determined, she expects to be placed at a medical research laboratory, a college, or a university.

Born and raised in New York, Takahashi has visited relatives in Japan, and speaks "a little bit of Japanese,” but views the coming year as a significant cultural and professional immersion. "I hope to gain some sort of international perspective on chemopreventive cancer research," she says. She is hopeful that her uncle and aunt, both physicians in Osaka, might help facilitate a hospital internship.

Takahashi says the death of a young family friend last summer from leukemia inspired her to consider the cultural complexities of medical care in the United States. "There were many cultural and language barriers that arose between the young woman's mother and the medical staff," she says. "And I also realized the importance of maintaining such elements as a patient's customary diet, and the need to evaluate traditional medicines as well."

At MHC, Takahashi has pursued her research under the guidance of Frank DeToma, Professor on the Alumnae Foundation and chair of biological sciences, and Rachel Fink, associate professor of biological sciences. DeToma says he has found Takahashi to be a gifted science student as well as an impressive conversationalist in the lab. "I hope that Kiyoko has learned as much from me about doing research as I have learned from her about any number of subjects, including comparative religion, which she's also studying. It has been a pleasure to work with her."

The Fulbright program was created by the United States Congress in 1946 to foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges. Each year the program allows Americans to study or conduct research in more than 140 nations. Over the past twenty years, more than twenty MHC seniors (and at least six alumnae) have won awards in the Fulbright competition. Among them, several have pursued English teaching assistantships in Germany, and others have been awarded grants for study/research. These have included archaeology studies in England, literature in Pakistan, zoology in Australia, biology in Switzerland, international relations in Germany, politics in Poland, women's tobacco clubs in Malawi, soccer clubs in Bolivia, and anti-HIV therapy in Senegal.