Department of Biology

Vanessa Ajizian (Guy)

Posted on January 31, 2017

After graduation with my Master’s in Biology from UNCG, I got a great job at Duke University in the Department of Neurology. I was a research assistant doing linkage analysis of the genetic disease tuberous sclerosis. My master’s training at UNCG gave me an amazing skill set to use at my job at Duke. We had DNA samples from entire families that had family members who were effected by a particular neurological disease and we set about to identify the genes. After three years working at Duke, I was accepted into the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. After four years in Chapel Hill, I completed my pediatric residency training at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. I stayed after my training to work as chief resident and an inpatient hospitalist at Baptist Hospital. In 2006 I accepted a great job in private practice pediatrics! My job at Twin City Pediatrics is the most fun, rewarding, interesting and important career I could have imagined! And, it has continued to surprise and fulfill me year after year. During the path to being a pediatrician, I also became a wife and a mom and have been given the greatest gift of a wonderful and healthy family. Looking back, I can easily and honestly say that without the help of devoted teachers and faculty at UNCG I would have never realized my dreams and potential. I was fortunate to be taught the most up-to-date and relevant science and advised how to reach my goals in a realistic and encouraging environment.