DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA OF THE YEAR AWARD
Dr. Jo Anne Zujewski, Med Tech ’76 u
Bethesda, Md.
She may have retired six years ago from her position at the National Cancer Institute, but Dr. Jo Anne Zujewski remains as busy as ever. Between working as a self-employed drug development medical consultant and multiple global volunteer positions, she may be one of the least retired retirees.
As a student Jo Anne was first drawn to medical science because it combined her love of science with service. After a career as a specialist in blood banking, she decided to pursue her medical degree and a second career specializing in oncology because it is “in line with the mission of a Marquette education which encompasses the whole person: spiritual and moral as well as intellectual, the heart as well as the mind.” Before leaving the National Cancer Institute, she was senior investigator of the Breast Cancer Therapeutics, serving as a scientific liaison with disease experts designing and conducting breast cancer clinical trials.
When she is not working as a consultant, much of Jo Anne’s time is spent volunteering for clinical service in places like Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Bhutan. In 2015, she joined a Global Brigades medical and environmental mission in Nicaragua. (Global Brigades was founded by a fellow Health Sciences alumna, Dr. Shita Vora, H Sci ’04, ’06.) She is currently volunteering “virtually” with Health Volunteers Overseas reviewing case studies with the palliative care team in Bhutan.
Closer to home, Jo Anne serves on the Board of Directors of Montgomery and Prince Georges Hospice in Rockville Maryland and served on the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps volunteering to give COVID vaccines. No matter what she is doing, Jo Anne is centrally motivated by one thing: “Whether a patient in clinic, a student in class, or a research colleague, I love having the opportunity to help someone every day.”
Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.
My grandmother. Her parents were immigrants from Poland, she was born in 1899, I would love to ask her all about what it was like to grow up in Chicago as a first generation American in the 20th century. There are a lot of questions I wish I had asked her before she died.
Name a Marquette faculty or staff member who had an impact on you, and how.
Alice Semrad, she showed me the importance of individualized education. I remember when I mentor others and I try to help them find their own unique path.
u Celebrating their Marquette Reunion
Leave a congratulatory message for JoAnne!