Medical Student
University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago
Disclosure: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Corinne Thornton is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago. In 2015, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in medical microbiology & immunology with a minor in global health. During college she interned at Public Health Madison & Dane County in the Environmental Water Quality Laboratory. After graduation Corinne served in the CDC Public Health Associate Program, where she led emergency preparedness and environmental health programs at a rural Illinois county health department. She also assisted the Incident Command Team at the Emergency Operations Center during the Zika Virus Response, where she was introduced to maternal-child infections and how they intersect with public health and the environment.
In medical school, Corinne has been involved in both infectious disease and maternal-child health research projects. She has evaluated device-associated urinary tract infection rates with the use of external female urinary devices and assessed the reproductive health needs of postpartum women. Over the last two years, Corinne has combined her multidisciplinary interests to pursue research involving maternal-child infections of public health concern, including her lead role on the project, “Investigation of Risk Factors for Congenital Syphilis and Syphilis Infection Among Pregnant Women at a Large Chicago Hospital”, for which she was awarded the Infectious Disease Society of America Foundation Grant for Emerging Researchers/Clinician Scholars (G.E.R.M.). During the Coronavirus Response, she volunteered to assist with the coordination and development of COVID-19 symptom screening and monitoring programs for healthcare workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Additionally, she is a leader in the Urban Medicine Program and Class Board, and a volunteer at the Student Run Free Clinic.
Corinne hopes to continue working with congenital infectious diseases and public health as she applies to Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency programs this year.
