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Olympics champion Gabby Thomas has opened up on the personal reasons that made her choose to study Neurobiology at Harvard University.
Olympics champion Gabby Thomas has weighed in again on how her two brother’s medical conditions drove her towards studying Neurobiology.
Thomas has a Degree in Neurobiology and Global Health from Harvard University but taking up that course was personal for the sprinter as she was intrigued by her brothers’ conditions.
The sprinter has a twin brother with serious ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), a condition that affects people's behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating and may act on impulse.
Thomas’ younger brother has autism, a condition characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.
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Having witnessed how her brothers battled with these conditions, Thomas decided to take up a course that would help her understand them better and also be in a position to help others in a similar position.
“My younger brother has autism and growing up with that, just kind of understanding how he views the world and my other brother noticing how society interacts and treats them as well,” Thomas said on Not Gonna Lie with Kyle Kelce, regarding her decision to study neurobiology.
“The different treatment options, the general learning sections, everything that goes with a typical autism condition and so I was intrigued by that, I wanted to study it and I wanted to go into research.”
Studying the course was challenging but eye-opening for Thomas who would work at the Boston Children's Hospital lab where she studied Rett syndrome, a form of autism that's only present in females.
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“So, after my first year, I got to research on Rett syndrome at the labs there and in my neurobiology studies, I started to focus a little bit more on the kind of health equity side and medical care and seeing what the implications were,” she added, further revealing how she ended up getting Masters in Public Health.
“Specifically, racial disparities and so I started to kind of leverage that foundation in neurobiology and apply it more to global health and policy and that is what brought me to do my Masters in Public Health and Epidemiology.
“The whole thing has been very rewarding and I have learnt so much and neurobiology was definitely one of the most challenging majors I could have chosen at the time at Harvard but I have no regrets. Just that I don’t use that degree is no big deal though but the time spent was very great.”
Thomas has not been able to put to practice her neurobiology skills as she decided to pursue her athletics career upon graduation and it has also been rewarding as she won three Olympics gold medals at the Paris 2024 Games.
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The 28-year-old has, however, spoken of how she intends to return to practicing medicine once she hangs up her spikes although she continues to offer her skills, albeit for free, working as a volunteer at a clinic in Austin, Texas where she lives.
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