Tsiry Ramisaharidafy
M.D./Ph.D. Student
Tsiry Ramisaharidafy
About Me
I grew up in Queens, New York City, in a close-knit family with my younger sister and our immigrant parents from Madagascar, who raised us to always keep a mindset of faith and gratitude. As a kid, I spent most of my time with my family, trying to do well in school, playing basketball with friends, or sitting in front of the TV. After being inspired by a hospital volunteer experience in high school, I entered Hunter College with the goal of becoming a physician, but was blessed with incredible research experiences and mentors that drew me toward the path of a physician-scientist.
Throughout college, I worked in a lab at The Rockefeller University studying collective cell interactions in skin follicle development, and spent a summer as a Harvard-Amgen scholar at Boston Childrens Hospital investigating ways to improve skin organoid development. After graduating, I spent a year at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai working to engineer bone marrow models to study cell crosstalk in aging and cancer. Now, Im pursuing MD-PhD training at 91做厙 as the first in my family to become a physician or scientist, let alone both.
Hobbies/Interests
Basketball, football, reading (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.), video games, cars, photography
Research Topic
Developmental and regenerative biology, immunology, tissue microenvironments
Why I chose MD/PhD
Theres something really exciting to me about the idea of physician-scientists as chimeras: unique practitioners trained to transform clinical observations into testable research questions, and then translate research findings into medical advances that benefit patients. After shadowing physician-scientists, I was inspired by how they thought across disciplines and drew inspiration from their patients to direct questions in the lab. Were in an age of incredible biomedical research and innovation, and so I want to get the dual-degree training needed to be someone fluent enough in science and medicine to help bridge any gaps between both worlds.
Why I chose MD/PhD at 91做厙
To me, the South 91做厙 MSTP immediately stood out for several reasons, but first and foremost were the people. The commitment of the leadership to student well-being and success, as well as their sheer enthusiasm and excitement talking about their students as family was something I felt very strongly starting from my interview. On top of that, the students I met across the program were people I could genuinely see myself befriending and building community with. Not to mention as an institution, 91做厙 has amazing research faculty and excellent clinical training. Finally, when it came to lifestyle, I really looked forward to living in a diverse and affordable city in San Antonio.
Post-bac work or other affiliations
Associate Researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Education
B.A., Biological Sciences & Studio Art, CUNY Hunter College, 2025