Kathy Kobi: Viewing Health In Context
For Kathy Kobi, the unique undergraduate program in biobehavioral health at Penn State was perfect.
Already interested in doing research in the health sciences, she was attracted to this program's
integration of those sciences with others, both hard and soft. "I love all the sciences," she says,
so she declared biobehavioral health as her major and happily pursued studies of the biological,
behavioral, social, cultural, and environmental factors that have a bearing on health issues.
The idea of the program is to address health problems in context, recognizing causes and consequences not just in medical terms but also in personal, cultural and environmental terms. This broad view of inter-related factors has served as a jumping-off point for students heading for medical or dental school, but for Kobi, it was an excellent foundation for a career in health science research. By the time she received her B.S., she was thinking about adding yet another academic discipline to that foundation: computer science.
She credits her husband with introducing her to the field and for her pursuit of a Masters in Computer Science at EPP (where he is studying for the same degree). After they met at Penn State, they began working on computers and systems together, doing such things as installing hard drives. Presently about half-way through the Hopkins program, she expects to graduate with an emphasis in bioinformatics. "This will give me the technical depth I crave, in a field I love."
Ironically, a health problem close to home has given her a goal that she will be able to address professionally. Kobi's father was recently diagnosed with cancer, so she has begun putting together a "huge" resource site on the subject for her parents, with special emphasis on the psychological impact of the disease on patients, caregivers and others. She imagines that what she is creating now for purely personal reasons will eventually be a valuable resource for many other people. "I want to educate people on the psychology of cancer."
Aside from video gaming with her husband, going to concerts, and practicing Pilates, Kobi is able to devote a great deal of her time to her studies and resource site development. Nevertheless, she values the flexibility EPP offers. "It's a great program," she says. She also has high praise for the faculty, especially her adviser, Eleanor Boyle Chlan, who has given her a great deal of personal attention and guidance.