{"id":45337,"date":"2025-12-02T16:26:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=45337"},"modified":"2025-12-02T16:26:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T22:26:31","slug":"when-science-meets-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"When science meets compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta<\/span>, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Respiratory
Outside of classes, Elisabeth Starosta has gained hands-on patient care experience as a Respiratory Specialist EMT at Altru. Such experiences, she said, confirmed her passion for health care: \u201cI wanted to be sure that in the role of the provider, I\u2019d feel comfortable. Doing EMT work really solidified that this is what I want to do.\u201d Photo by Mike Hess\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From an early age, Elisabeth Starosta saw two sides of medicine: science and humanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad has an M.D. and a Ph.D., so I grew up seeing the research side,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd when my mom was diagnosed with MS when I was young, I saw what compassionate, diligent care really meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those experiences sparked an early fascination with medicine and shaped her dream of becoming a physician.<\/p>\n

Knowing she wanted to pursue medicine, Elisabeth applied only to UND.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually started out as a biomedical engineering major,\u201d she said. \u201cBut then I realized it wasn\u2019t for me. My roommate was a chemistry major, and she suggested I move to chemistry. I tried it and loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now pursuing biochemistry and in the UND Honors Program, Elisabeth walks an academic path that bridges curiosity and kindness, combining a fascination with molecular science and a desire to make a difference through medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I went in, my first classes were organic chemistry \u2014 I love organic chemistry,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re some of my favorite classes I\u2019ve ever taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read and watch more about Elisabeth<\/strong><\/a> and her successful career at UND.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":45341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16,1136],"class_list":["post-45337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-und","tag-arts-sciences","tag-honors"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhen science meets compassion - UND Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When science meets compassion - UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-02T22:26:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\"},\"headline\":\"When science meets compassion\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-02T22:26:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":294,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Arts & Sciences\",\"Honors\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Around UND\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/\",\"name\":\"When science meets compassion - UND Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-02T22:26:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\"},\"description\":\"For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"Outside of classes, Elisabeth Starosta has gained hands-on patient care experience as a Respiratory Specialist EMT at Altru. Such experiences, she said, confirmed her passion for health care: \u201cI wanted to be sure that in the role of the provider, I\u2019d feel comfortable. Doing EMT work really solidified that this is what I want to do.\u201d Photo by Mike Hess\\\/UND Today.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/when-science-meets-compassion\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When science meets compassion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"description\":\"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"UND Today\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/author\\\/und-today\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When science meets compassion - UND Today","description":"For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When science meets compassion - UND Today","og_description":"For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/","og_site_name":"UND Today","article_published_time":"2025-12-02T22:26:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"UND Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"UND Today","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/"},"author":{"name":"UND Today","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00"},"headline":"When science meets compassion","datePublished":"2025-12-02T22:26:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/"},"wordCount":294,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg","keywords":["College of Arts & Sciences","Honors"],"articleSection":["Around UND"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/","name":"When science meets compassion - UND Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-02T22:26:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00"},"description":"For Leader in Action Elisabeth Starosta, UND \u2018empowered me to explore all my interests \u2014 science, global studies, mentoring \u2014 and to find meaning in each one\u2019","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/12\/251010-elisabeth-startosa-0644.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"Outside of classes, Elisabeth Starosta has gained hands-on patient care experience as a Respiratory Specialist EMT at Altru. Such experiences, she said, confirmed her passion for health care: \u201cI wanted to be sure that in the role of the provider, I\u2019d feel comfortable. Doing EMT work really solidified that this is what I want to do.\u201d Photo by Mike Hess\/UND Today."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2025\/12\/when-science-meets-compassion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When science meets compassion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/","name":"UND Today","description":"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00","name":"UND Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"UND Today"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/author\/und-today\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45337"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45345,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45337\/revisions\/45345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}