Daniel Berrebi
Daniel Berrebi, from Morgantown, will graduate with degrees in biology and Spanish and a minor in business administration. He is the president of the TriBeta Biological Honors Society, fundraiser chair for the WVU Public Health Brigades, and serves as a student ambassador for the WVU Foundation and Undergraduate Admissions.
He has maintained a 4.0 while actively engaging in laboratory research, traveling abroad, serving as a tutor for student-athletes, and as the team captain of six intramural sports.
Berrebi has also been a regular contributor to service projects around Morgantown and the state, including a sustainable farming project in McDowell County, several pet adoption days at PETCO, and environmental protection work at the WVU Core Arboretum.
He has engaged in laboratory research since 2016 with a focus on the role of obesity in the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body and has presented his research at several national conferences.
In 2016, Berrebi had the opportunity to spend his summer studying in Santander, Spain where he was inspired to master the Spanish language. In 2017, he traveled as a healthcare volunteer to rural Nicaragua as part of the Global Medical and Global Dental Brigades to assist and translate for healthcare professionals and other volunteers that facilitated health care and filled prescriptions for patients.
He returned to Nicaragua in 2018 to facilitate healthcare for more than 2,600 patients while simultaneously constructing sanitary units and septic tanks to improve public health conditions.
In 2017, he served as a summer research fellow at the WVU Cancer Institute where he won first place in the cancer category of the student poster session at the Southeast Regional IDeA Conference. He was selected for his research that used 3D matrix models to study the role of stem cells in contributing the spread of breast cancer.
Berrebi is a Foundation Scholar, member of the Chimes Junior Honorary Society, and will graduate as a two-time recipient of the Eberly Enrichment Award.
Berrebi plans to attend medical school and eventually work as a physician in under-resourced regions of the world, including rural Appalachia.