KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Saturday, a woman will take to the stage and after years of work, claim her PhD. She will then speak to the graduates and their families, taking the podium as the featured speaker at the University of Tennessee's graduate hooding ceremony on Saturday.
Amie Sankoh was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and she lost her hearing when she was three years old after suffering a high fever from malaria. According to UT, she arrived in the U.S. to access better resources for the Deaf community. They said she learned American Sign Language, which allowed her to connect with other Deaf people.
They said Sankoh found a love for science and chemistry and earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in laboratory science technology, as well as a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry, at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
At UT, she studied critical intercellular communication needed for cell growth. She was awarded the Program for Excellence and Equity in Research fellowship, an NSF_GREP and an NIH F31 fellowship. Her current project focuses on the effects of hormones on plasmodesmata-mediated trafficking in "Nicotiana benthamiana," a kind of plant native to Australia that's a close relative to tobacco.
"I will see my friends graduating, and I will see them on that stage, and it will feel unrealistic for me and I wish I could look back at my former self and say, 'You're going to be fin. You're going to be great. You have an amazing future ahead of you,'" said Sankoh.