Meet the Class of 2024: Amogh Chariyamane
Amogh Chariyamane, a senior majoring in health sciences at Doisy College of Health Sciences and a Medical Scholar, has a passion for health care and improving lives. During his time at Saint Louis University, Chariyamane has been able to perform undergraduate research, gain clinical experience and serve the community.
Now, as he prepares to enter the SLU School of Medicine, Chariyamane reflects on the last four years and what he hopes to achieve next.
Amogh Chariyamane, a SLU Medical Scholar, will enroll in the School of Medicine this July. Submitted photo
What drew you to study medicine?
I think it's beautiful how we can break down the human body into the smallest functional unit, like a cell or even an organelle, and see how it works. One amino acid might cause an entire hemoglobin or red blood cell to be folded wrong, causing a disease that impacts life in tangible ways. It's fascinating how small-scale things can make such drastic impacts on patient health and human health.
What field of medicine do you hope to study?
I haven't narrowed it down to anything, but I'm interested in internal medicine, and then a fellowship into cardiology, GI or endocrinology.
You’ll be back on campus soon for the first day of classes at the medical school. Are you excited? Nervous?
Mostly excited. It's a culmination of a dream that I've been working on since high school. I can't wait for rotations. One of the biggest things that's drawn me towards medicine is the ability to sit down with patients and connect with them.
Chariyamane and teammate Jake Little, a mechanical engineering student, won third place at the Rice University 2023 Global Health Technologies Design Competition for a presentation about their work on a blood test for anemia. Submitted photo
You’ve also been involved in research while at SLU. What was that like?
So much of your journey in school goes toward learning knowledge, but in research, you actually get to contribute to the knowledge. The blood test I worked on is just one blood test for one specific disease, but I’m still contributing to the literature. It’s fun and exciting for me to be able to give back to the field that I’ve drawn from.
Whose lab did you work in?
Dr. Tim Randolph. He's just been such a great inspiration for me. He writes textbook chapters, teaches multiple classes, performs research and attends different conferences, and despite that, he makes time for each individual student. He’s the kind of mentor I want to be.
Speaking of mentors, do you have any words of advice for your fellow Billikens?
One thing I would definitely tell students is to pursue your passion, and when you find something you’re interested in, be bold and take steps to make it possible.
There's so much you can do to get involved at SLU, and this is a wonderful time of your life. If there's something that interests you, try to get as immersed as you can in it, and wonderful things will come out of it.
Latest Newslink
- Six SLU Students Advance to Semifinalist Stage for Fulbright GrantsSaint Louis University's Office of Competitive Fellowships and Scholarships has announced that six SLU students have been selected as semifinalists for the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Fulbright decisions are updated regularly, and applicants will be notified in the spring whether they have been selected as finalists to receive the award.
- Tickets to See Colson Whitehead Receive 2025 St. Louis Literary Award Go on Sale on February 7Tickets for the St. Louis Literary Award ceremony honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead will go on sale Friday, Feb. 7, at 10 a.m. Whitehead will receive the award on April 9 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Tickets for the 2025 St. Louis Literary Award event are $15 and available through Metrotix.
- Second SLU Golf and Give Challenge Set for February 25-26The Saint Louis University community is invited to chip in and stock the Billiken Bounty food pantry by playing miniature golf holes created by SLU students. The innovation challenge is led by SLU's School of Science and Engineering and Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship.
- Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship Accepting Applications for Second New Venture Accelerator CohortAfter a successful first year, Saint Louis University’s Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship is opening up applications for its second New Venture Accelerator (NVA). The NVA, which offers students and young alumni an opportunity to launch their businesses with financial support, resources, and mentoring from SLU experts, launched in 2024 with an initial cohort of four businesses.
- Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Speakers Urge HopefulnessTaking action and working to improve life was a common theme at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Tribute ceremony on Thursday morning. SLU and St. Louis community members gathered in the St. Louis Room of the Busch Student Center for the annual event, a partnership between SLU and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, to remember and honor King.
- Sawday Shares Significance of Nothingness at James Russell Lowell Prize CeremonyA lot can be said about the blank spaces in literature. That was one of the messages from Jonathan Sawday, Ph.D., SLU's Walter J. Ong, S.J. Chair in Humanities in the English Department. Wednesday afternoon, a standing-room-only crowd gathered in the Pere Marquette Gallery to hear Sawday's thoughts on his award-winning text, Blanks, Print, Space, and Void in English Renaissance Literature: An Archaeology of Absence.