Research program creates opportunities for native Guatemalans

A joint research program between Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and the Universidad de Valle de Guatemala is creating opportunities in science for native Guatemalan undergraduates.

"This is special for me and my department because, sadly, there are not many opportunities like this one," said Melany Calderon Ramos, an undergraduate student in Guatemala. "By giving us this opportunity as investigators, it's opened my eyes and given me an extended view of all the things we are not doing that we need to do to protect public health."

Calderon Ramos, a pharmaceutical chemistry student, is one of four undergraduates who participated as a student fellow in the Antimicrobial Resistance in Communities and Hospitals (ARCH) study, for which she supported researchers at both universities to develop communication pieces where she saw the effects of antimicrobial resistance first-hand.

The research opportunity was made possible by a program known as the Wright Grant Scholars, which was created by an endowment from WSU alumni and donor Howard Wright ('76 Latin American Studies) and provides scholarships to students to aid critical antimicrobial resistance research co-led by WSU faculty in the Central American nation.

Antimicrobial resistance, recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an urgent global public health threat, occurs when bacteria develop the ability to resist the drugs designed to kill them, which allows infections to persist. According to the CDC, antimicrobial resistance killed nearly 5 million people in 2019.

"[In my clinical pharmacy rotations] I was working with doctors at the hospital for five months and I saw four kids die because of this. It's very sad knowing these kids were 13 or less and dying because their medications were not working against these resistant bacteria," Calderon Ramos said.

Despite taking an emotional toll, she said the opportunity has drawn her to research. She hopes to pursue a career in research or pharmaceutical screening.

"This [ARCH] investigation opened my eyes about how important this work is for my country," Calderon Ramos said. "I'm fascinated. Even though it can be hard to specialize in something like this here, it is something we need."

As for the remainder of the work on the ARCH study, Calderon Ramos is creating documents around antimicrobial resistance data used to inform the Guatemalan Ministry of Health of the study's findings and data collection processes.

Assistant professor Brooke Ramay, a member of WSU's Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health who mentors Guatemalan students and leads WSU's portion of the research in the country, said findings from the ARCH study are available now, and, in addition to preparing the Guatemalan undergraduate students who participated, it could shed light on how to limit bacteria-resistant infections in the country.

"The opportunity that we can give students here, it's just really fun to see because the impact that you have is so much greater, because there's so much need," Ramay said. "We hope our research leaves a lasting impact."

Wright, the scholarship program's namesake and the founder of Seattle Hospitality Group, said creating opportunities for native Guatemala students was the intent behind the scholarship program.

He said he sees the opportunity to give as one of the few things he can do to give back to the nation he fell in love with 52 years ago during a study abroad trip as a WSU undergraduate.

"I just fell in love with the country," Wright said. "Look, I'm not a scientist. I'm not going to be doing field research in Guatemala, but what I can do is provide scholarship funding that goes on in perpetuity - my goal is to provide a steady financial platform for future students."

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