“I aspire to be a physician who sees beyond symptoms and diagnoses and understands the connection between physical health and emotional resilience. Success will be measured by the empowerment I inspire in my future patients.”

Drew Ebner is earning her bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan with plans to attend medical school after graduation. Her path to pursue medicine began as she watched her grandmother battle breast cancer. Drew envisioned a future where she could provide the same compassionate, expert care that guided her family through this most challenging time.

As an undergraduate, Drew has already made an impact on medical research. Through U-M’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, she investigates treatment methods for patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis (a chronic bowel disease), and her findings appear in an article published in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She has also recently joined a biomedical neurodevelopment research team. Outside of the lab, Drew works as a patient care technician at Michigan Medicine, where she supports patients and clinicians in the cardiovascular moderate care unit.

At U-M, Drew is an executive board member for FEMMES (Women+ Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and Science), where she promotes mentorship and visibility for women in STEM disciplines. Drew also helps lead hands-on STEM programming for K–12 students. Drew has a long record of STEM advocacy: in high school, she founded a STEMinist club and Stem Kits for Kids, an organization that raised funds to provide under-resourced schools with science experiment materials.

Drew’s work — whether in the lab, at the bedside, or in the community — reflects her broader vision for the future of healthcare. As Drew writes, “I aspire to be a physician who sees beyond symptoms and diagnoses and understands the connection between physical health and emotional resilience. Success will be measured by the empowerment I inspire in my future patients.”

CEW+ honors Drew’s leadership toward holistic healthcare and names her an Irma M. Wyman Scholar.