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The National Institutes of Health awarded a fellowship to Daniel Swarr ’03 (Clifton Park, N.Y.) for research this summer at the vascular biology lab within the cardiovascular branch of the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Washington, D.C.
In the fall, he will enroll in the M.D. program at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
“I am considering cardiothoracic or vascular surgery, but other specialties of interest to me are cardiology, emergency medicine, and pulmonary/critical care,” he says. “I am interested in pursuing a predominately clinical career, but I would like to spend some time involved in teaching and research as well.”
Swarr graduated summa cum laude last month with a bachelor of science in physics and a bachelor of arts with a major in mathematics. He was elected to Sigma Xi, the international honors society for scientific and engineering research, and Pi Mu Epsilon, the national honor society for mathematics, and was also invited to join Phi Beta Kappa. He received the Sanfurd G. Bluestein ’42 Award, given annually to a student planning a career in medicine with excellent academic performance and contributions to college life, and the Dr. and Mrs. David Schwimmer ’35 Prize in Honor of Theodore A. Distler, awarded to the premedical student who best represents the humanitarian, cultural, and scientific qualities required of a physician.
Arriving at Lafayette with an interest in scientific research, Swarr began assisting William H. Miles, associate professor of chemistry, in an EXCEL Scholars project to develop new organic chemical reactions his first year. In EXCEL, students collaborate with faculty on research while earning a stipend. Many of the more than 160 students who participate each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
Swarr came to Lafayette with extensive lab experience, having worked for the New York Department of Health for two summers. Miles added that Swarr is “the first and only” student who ever corresponded with him about his research before starting college, and also brought a proposed synthetic scheme with him for one of the compounds that interested Miles.
The following summer, Swarr worked as an EXCEL Scholar with Bradley Antanaitis, professor of physics, to develop a computational model of a protein. The object of the work was to yield a better understanding of certain proteins essential for life-sustaining functions.
“A great part about going to a school like Lafayette is being able to have meaningful access to professors and research opportunities early in your academic career,” says Swarr, a Marquis Scholar and 2001 recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate award of its type in the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering. “Lafayette goes out of its way from freshman orientation to graduation to make sure each student has the opportunity to do his or her best, fulfilling their personal goals.”
During the spring of his junior year, Swarr teamed up with Antanaitis once again in an independent study to research nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) because of its relevance to magnetic resonance imaging, a technique he may one day use as a practicing physician. His aim was to gain an understanding of the basic theory underlying all magnetic resonance techniques and an appreciation for the specificity as well as versatility of NMR in particular.
Swarr spent his final year at Lafayette conducting research on spectroscopy and computer modeling to determine solution structure of a potential anti-breast cancer drug. He has coauthored several papers on his research.
Swarr further explored his interest in medicine through summer work as a research assistant at Lehigh Valley Hospital and externships at two hospitals. During the 2002 January interim session between semesters, Swarr participated in Lafayette’s Alumni Externship program, shadowing Robert D. Siegel ’77, a hematologist and oncologist with Oncology Associates, Hartford, Conn. He has also served as a research assistant at Wadsworth Laboratories, Albany, N.Y., for two summers.
“By contrasting my volunteer experiences with my research experiences, I learned my true passion is clinical medicine, which allowed me to refine my post-Lafayette plans,” he says.
Swarr and his teammates have won first and second place in Lafayette’s Team Barge Math Competitions, in which groups of three to five students work on solutions for the eight weeks in which a weekly problem is posed by the math department. He and two other Lafayette students also placed among the top 14 percent of participating teams — earning the second highest rating — in the 17th annual Mathematical Contest in Modeling, an international competition sponsored by the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications.
Swarr has been a tutor and grading assistant in physics, a rape crisis counselor at August Survivors Center, Easton, Pa., a mentor to local students with Adopt-A-Class, and a volunteer for the Emergency Care Unit at Easton Hospital. Swarr is certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and member of Easton’s Emergency Squad. He also has served as vice president of a volunteer group of students living on the same residence hall floor and conducting community service projects together.
During the 2000-01 academic year, Swarr was a member of the McKelvy House Scholars program, living with 17-19 other students of high academic achievement and promise in an historic off-campus house and participating in shared intellectual and social activities.
In his sophomore year, Swarr traveled to Ireland to take a Lafayette course called “The Land and Landscape in Ireland” during the January interim session between semesters.