Sydney Womack

Brief Biography
Sydney grew up in Lexington, South Carolina. From a young age, she loved learning about horses and greatly enjoyed exploring topics in biology and mathematics, ultimately joining an engineering program in high school. After her first year as a Biomedical Engineering major at the University of South Carolina, she joined Dr. Francis Spinale's laboratory where she participated in cardiovascular translational research. This is when she first became interested in comparative medicine. After a summer research experience for undergraduates at the University of Rochester, where she studied mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, she realized that a career in veterinary research would allow her to combine her interests in engineering, biology, and animals. Through volunteering with a local therapeutic riding center, she was introduced to an equine veterinarian which solidified her desire to pursue both clinical and research degrees. In her free time, she loves to spend time outdoors by hiking and riding horses, make music with her bassoon and other instruments, and read.

Education
B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, Minor in Mathematics, Performance Certificate in Bassoon, University of South Carolina, 2021
Graduated with Honors from the University of South Carolina Honors College and with Leadership Distinction in Research

Research Interests
Sydney's first research experience was with Dr. Spinale at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, where she investigated the role of fibroblast activation protein in heart failure. She also participated in summer research at the University of Rochester with Dr. Danielle Benoit where she researched mesenchymal stem cell differentiation. Finally, she designed a research project in laboratory animal welfare with the laboratory animal veterinarian, Dr. Shayne Barlow, at UofSC. With a varied background in research topics, Sydney is looking forward to further work in another area of interest, orthopedics. She hopes to incorporate her background in engineering to explore comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to problems in veterinary and human medicine.