Posted: December 1, 2020
Since graduating from »Ê¼Ò»ªÈË in 2013, alumnus David Rach has committed to helping others through what he knows best: science.
From serving in the Peace Corps in West Africa to participating in one of the first rounds of COVID-19 trial vaccines, he continues to explore the ways in which he can put his knowledge of chemistry and biology to the test. Rach is currently a third year Ph.D. student in immunology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
“The thesis work I’m doing right now includes looking at how viral infections during a mom's pregnancy changed the baby's immune responses to common childhood diseases during the first year of life,” Rach explained.
Rach, who began his science career at NWC, was unsure of his path post graduation. After struggling through calculus and chemistry in the spring, he resolved to do better the following semester.
“It's not about getting knocked down,” Rach said. “The story is how you get back up and how you continue, despite everything that’s in the way.”
After majoring in natural resource biology at NWC, he transferred to the University of Wyoming, where he graduated in 2016 with degrees in microbiology and molecular biology. Unsure of what area of research he wanted to pursue and ready to give back to others, Rach decided to apply to serve in the U.S. Peace Corps.
“As far as the application goes, I said they could send me anywhere. I didn't care where in the world or which country—wherever I was most needed was where I wanted to go,” Rach explained.
Placed in Ghana shortly afterward, he taught two years of biology and chemistry at a rural high school and was the only American on campus. Varied in numbers and ages, his class sizes ranged anywhere from four to 60 students and an age range of 14 to 21.
Rach also became involved with secondary projects, collaborating with Ghanaians who were teachers and community health workers who were focused on a malaria prevention and awareness campaign.
“During that time, my interest in infectious disease kind of solidified,” he said.
Though Rach can recall plenty of memorable experiences from his time in Ghana, he said there are two that immediately spring to mind.
The first he recalls is sitting under mango trees with friends to escape the humidity during the day and enjoying the breeze, fruit and conversation with others.
Equally as vivid, Rach often reflects on a time where his students struggled to understand a specific concept in chemistry. Having been there himself only a few years ago, and also finding the concept challenging to understand when he was a student at NWC, Rach developed a new way of explaining the lesson by using a local hibiscus drink the students were familiar with as an example.
After teaching the lesson, and assisting his students as they worked through the concept in the lab that day, he noticed one student still struggling to understand.
“All the sudden, you see his face get super, super bright,” Rach said. “I knew at that moment, yes, he got it. I was so happy.”
After wrapping up his time with the Peace Corps in Ghana, Rach’s commitment to helping others didn’t stop.
In early May 2020, he agreed to be the first individual at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, to be injected with a COVID-19 trial vaccine. As someone who is healthy, and less likely to be negatively impacted by the virus, Rach wanted to help in any way he could to aid the development of an effective vaccine.
“They sent out an email university wide, saying that the trial is starting up and they’re looking for volunteers,” he explained. “I had just happened to check my email and thought OK, this is something I could do to help and signed up right away.”
Woken up bright and early by his cat the morning he was slated to receive the vaccine, Rach was the first volunteer in the door.
Early indications from Rach’s trial show that the vaccine works and seemed to be stimulating the growth of antibodies at higher rates in those who received the vaccine compared to patients who were hospitalized.
Though vaccine trials continue to be conducted throughout the country, Rach is both optimistic and pleased he was able to speed up the process by volunteering.
As he reflects on his time at NWC, he described the one-on-one relationships with faculty he created in the moments chatting after class and during office hours as a major determining factor in the academic path he’s pursued.
“If you take advantage of those opportunities, you can learn a lot,” he said.
Rach is set to graduate in the next couple years and continues to explore his career options.
He expressed that he could see himself happy researching, teaching or potentially conducting government/industry research.
“I know one of the driving things I want to do is make an impact by helping others. It’s my guiding principle.”