Sean Palermo
Sean Palermo is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied psychology and chemistry with the ambition of becoming a medical researcher, private practitioner, and educator. His aim is to contribute to unraveling the mystery surrounding PANDAS, or Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infection, by studying the sociobiological and neuropsychiatric underpinnings of Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. Recently, the OCD research team that Sean works with, including doctors and scientists from Pittsburgh and London, was the subject of a Discovery Health documentary about fMRI findings in children and adults with OCD and the philosophical implications they have for understanding the disorder. This episode is set to air in the spring of 2009. Sean can also be seen in a Korean documentary for his recent work in telerehabilitative medicine with UPMC's Department of Rehabilitative Science and Technology.
Since matriculating to the University of Pittsburgh, Sean founded the Pitt chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) with the goal of helping fellow students find formative opportunities in volunteering, job-shadowing, and research. His academic achievements include winning the Duxbury Award for Oustanding Student, placing third in the nation in a pathophysiology knowledge test through the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), and placing first with a 3-member team from Kalamazoo College in a national quiz-bowl called HOSA Bowl that covers pathophysiology, medical terminology, HOSA history, medical history, and parliamentary procedure. In his free time, he works as a caregiver for UCP of Pittsburgh, as a product developer in telerehabilitative engineering, and writes children's literature - you can be on the lookout for his first published book in the spring of 2009! Until then, you can read his weekly contributions here through our Pick of the Week page. Sean is set to begin graduate studies in social and behavioral sciences at Yale University in the fall. To contact him, you can e-mail sean.palermo@yale.edu.