Peter DiGiovanni is a senior in the College majoring in Italian and on the Pre-Med track. He is also a recipient of the Georgetown University Royden B. Davis Fellowship, which funds innovative summer research projects.
Involvement in Research:
The evolving nature of science fascinates Peter. Research is a unique field where one can contribute knowledge to this growing and continually changing landscape that guides medical and healthcare decisions every day. Among the many brilliant scholars in the science realm both at Georgetown and around the world, he feels humbled for any opportunity to publish his own research. This desire to make a tangible change in the world, inspired largely by his parents, is what first drove him to do research and has continued to pique his interest in it.
Researching in the Hand and Arm Department at Massachusetts General Hospital has exposed him to an engaging variety of surgical techniques and practices. Peter began his research with a study of Wilson's Osteotomy versus Arthroplasty as a method to treat early arthritis in patients. He then continued with a study of De Quervain's Tenosynovitis and another on bone tumors. During his junior year, he focused primarily on carpal tunnel (primary versus secondary revision). This past summer, he had the opportunity to create his own research project on replantation at the level of the wrist, hand, and fingers post-amputation. He is currently conducting data collection for this study and examining the psychosocial factors related to this traumatic injury to better inform future surgical procedures.
Reflection:
Peter feels very grateful for the opportunities that he has been given at the Massachusetts General Hospital, including the incredible support from the doctors, fellow researchers, and overall community. He feels that the research community is truly an amazing place. Peter also thanks his professors and mentors at Georgetown for their guidance and the board members of the Royden B. Davis Fellowship for entrusting him to carry out his research project. These experiences are truly invaluable to him, just as he hopes their impact is to others.
A piece of advice Peter has learned during his time at Georgetown is the importance of taking the first step. It is easy to accept that what you do as an individual will be insignificant in the greater scheme of things. That said, whether it is beginning a research project or volunteering for The Farmlink Project, he has learned that this is wholly untrue. With hard work and ambitious goals, as cliche as it may sound, the limits are endless.