GPC Alumnus Works Simultaneously on Doctorate and Medical Degree

 

by Kysa Daniels

 

Quaovi Sodji spent the first 18 years of his life in West Africa. But the Georgia Perimeter College alumnus has spent the last few years steeped in researching anti-cancer drugs as a doctoral candidate at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been immersed in experiments, such as growing cancer cell lines then creating drugs and testing their efficacy.

 

“I’m working on improving a new class of anti-cancer drugs recently put on the market so that they can be used for more cancers than currently approved for,” Sodji says.

 

Sodji speaks cheerfully and fluidly about the intensity of his lab work. But this is only half of it.

 

A few years ago, Sodji became part of an elite group of students selected to participate in the highly competitive MDPhD program offered by the Medical College of Georgia (now Georgia Regents University). This means he has been working—simultaneously—on attaining his doctorate from Georgia Tech and a medical diploma from Georgia Regents.

 

There are a mere 100 MDPhD programs nationwide, with Emory University hosting the only other in Georgia.

 

In 2010, Sodji was one of only three students, out of a pool of 180 applicants, who were picked for the program, which provides full tuition, health care and a $24,000 annual living stipend.

 

“What we saw in Quaovi is a passion for caring for today’s patient as a physician and tomorrow’s patient as a research scientist,” explained MDPhD program manager Christina Ostrowski about Sodji’s selection.

 

“One thing I found particularly remarkable about Quaovi is his persistence and his dedication.”

 

Overcoming Barriers

 

Sodji, now 29, is the first to share that grit and determination are what catapulted him to where he is today.

 

The oldest of three children, he grew up in a small town off the coast of Togo in West Africa. His father, who works for Shell Oil, refuels planes at the international airport in Togo.

 

Sodji spent his youth mostly playing soccer, hanging out with the local kids and attending school. Although he doesn’t offer much praise for the academic foundation he received in the capital city of Lome, he does credit the school system for cultivating in him a strong work ethic and discipline.

 

“So after high school, a lot of people want to go out of the country to study,” Sodji says. At 16, Sodji says France was the most practical option, since Togo’s national language is French.

 

But, unbeknownst to him, his dad had submitted his name for an American visa lottery that granted recipients permanent residency. Sodji won the lottery, but initially wasn’t feeling lucky.

 

“I wasn’t at first, simply because I had gone to school and done everything in French, so that would imply switching to English,” he says.

 

Sodji, however, tapped his work ethic and began learning English, first at the U.S. Embassy in Togo. After coming to the United States in November 2003, he learned more by watching American television and communicating with coworkers at his first job in the states—collecting and moving shopping carts at a Walmart.

 

“I got out of my comfort zone, that’s the biggest thing,” he says.

 

 

The GPC Effect

           

Eventually, Sodji learned enough English and earned enough money to enroll in college. He looked at several, but says he found Georgia Perimeter’s small classes, affordable tuition and nurturing environment appealing, and he enrolled in the fall of 2004.

 

“Being new to the educational system here in the United States, GPC did a good job of transitioning me into this system and giving me a good understanding and the ability to adjust, while working and going to school,” Sodji says. He spent two years at Georgia Perimeter, before transferring to Georgia Tech, where he received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry.

 

Sodji is appreciative of the doors this country has opened for him.

 

“I’m grateful for the opportunity that the U.S. and the state of Georgia and GPC, as well, have afforded me. “I’ve received a lot of public support in terms of financing my goals, and I’m grateful for all of that.”

 

Sodji has become such a fan of this country and of GPC that his mother has moved to the United States and is currently studying English. His younger sister also came and is enrolled at Georgia Perimeter.

 

Cheryl Pharr, who works as an administrative assistant in GPC’s Dunwoody Campus Learning and Tutoring Center, still keeps in touch with Sodji. She recalls him  working part-time as a tutor and full-time at a local retailer, all while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.

 

“Quaovi’s most outstanding attribute is his humility,” Pharr says. “He has accomplished so much, and he is still the same as when I first met him.”

 

 

The Journey Continues

 

A lot has changed for Sodji since first arriving in the United States 11 years ago.

At Georgia Tech this past March, he successfully defended his thesis and will graduate this spring with a doctorate in organic chemistry.

 

 

At the end of May, with two years already completed toward his medical degree, Sodji will resume studies at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, before starting his residency in two years.

In the meantime, Sodji—who admits to being a bit tired—took a break between semesters to visit his brother in France who is earning a master’s degree in telecommunications.

 

He returns this month to continue his journey of achievements.

 

“When they get out, the goal is that they can do research, see patients and also do a little bit of teaching,” Ostrowski says.

 

Sodji wants to eventually work as a researcher developing new therapies and drugs for disease. In this capacity, he will work as a physician, too.