My Special Life: The first Lucas T. Ahn Family Scholarship, Planting of a Small Seed.

So, I did a thing!!!!

When Lucas turned 10 years old, I wanted to do something special in his honor as a gesture of gratitude to the Universe for having him live this long. To achieve this, I have been able to set up the first Lucas T. Ahn Family Scholarship with the partnership of Dup15q Alliance. Its purpose is to encourage budding researchers to invest their talent into studying Dup15q Syndrome. In 2021, it was so disheartening to hear about so many individuals with Dup15q pass away from SUDEP or suffer complications from seizures that require prolonged hospitalizations; such as aspiration pneumonia, status epilepticus, bowel function disorders, and even psychiatric crisis. These stories could well be about our family.

When Lucas was still an infant and we had no idea about Dup15q Syndrome, I had so many dreams for his life and whatever he decided to become as an adult, I vowed to support him every way possible only to have those dreams shatter and fall through my fingers once we received his diagnosis. The money I would have spent for his music lessons, sports gear, Kumon, maybe even a nice private education stayed stagnant, like energy that has nowhere to move, and this scholarship is my way of moving this stuck energy into something good on his behalf.

I'm so grateful for the Alliance in helping me to get this set up. Studying rare diseases is not a glamorous choice many scholars would pick as their specialty but getting talented young people to choose research in Dup15q is a very important priority to ensuring deeper knowledge, targeted treatments and possible cure for the syndrome. I am hoping I can fund this every year, if funds permit. This is so exciting and I can't wait to read essays from applicants soon!

My small drop of contribution pales in comparison to what the likes of the Chan Zuckergerg Initiative is doing for the rare diseases community. But, I believe earnest intentions have just as great an impact as projects of great scale because I have faith the Spiritual realm sees all things and weighs all things with measures far different than what we use on Earth.

"Then a poor widow came along and put in two small copper coins. Jesus teaches the disciples that the woman gave more than the rich. The poor woman, as a widow, would have had no source of income after her husband's death. Therefore the two small copper coins were all she had - and yet she offered them to God." (Mark 12:41-44)

The Lucas T. Ahn Family Scholarship aims to support a junior/senior undergraduates or first-year graduate students who have an interest in an opportunity to network with colleagues at all career levels, a semester exposure to a laboratory environment that targets Dup15q research. The scholarship is a one-time $2,500 gift.

Well-prepared, independent, and committed individuals looking for a chance to form life-long scientific collaborations and an interest in Dup15q Syndrome research are encouraged to apply.

Participants can anticipate to work 10 hours/week in the lab of their mentor, attend research seminars, participate in lab meetings.

The criterion includes:
-GPA of at least 3.2
-Junior or Senior undergraduate status or first-year graduate student
-A short essay on why they are applying
-identification and sign off by the potential mentor

Clink scholarship information to apply. Best luck to all applicants!

Well-prepared, independent, and committed individuals looking for a chance to form life-long scientific collaborations and an interest in Dup15q Syndrome research are encouraged to apply.

Participants can anticipate to work 10 hours/week in the lab of their mentor, attend research seminars, participate in lab meetings.