Driven by their own experiences with childhood illness — along with breakthrough research experience and service to the community — two stand-out USC Dornsife students look forward to medical school.

Born three months premature at just 45 ounces, Jason Toliao spent his first weeks of life under the close watch of staff at a San Jose, Calif., hospital, a prelude to the regular interaction with doctors Toliao would endure throughout his childhood years.

As a toddler, Toliao braved weekly hospital visits to treat complications from jaundice and severe asthma. Though the frequent hospital visits subsided as Toliao matured, headaches, dizziness and MRI scans continued. Vigilant doctors, however, helped Toliao develop into an active, healthy young adult prepared to attend college 350 miles away from his childhood home.

“Because of the care and compassion doctors showed me, I wanted to be one myself,” says Toliao, a student at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences majoring in neuroscience.

Fellow USC Dornsife senior Taylor Renneker, a biological sciences major, shares a similar tale.

The Las Vegas native battled severe asthma in childhood as well as an oral allergy syndrome requiring sharp-eyed attention to her diet. As she grew into adolescence, she often felt nudged to the sidelines and discounted, questioned and analyzed.

Renneker decided to pursue a career in medicine, eager to understand her own health battles and help others navigate their own health challenges.

As their May 15 USC Dornsife graduation nears, both Toliao and Renneker are now preparing for medical school, eager to take the next steps in personal journeys motivated by childhood struggles and enlivened by USC experiences that broadened their minds and sharpened their purpose.

Graduating senior embraces a commitment to care

On Toliao’s first day at USC, he sent an email to Peter Chiarelli, a respected neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). Toliao inquired about shadowing Chiarelli. The doctor obliged and later offered Toliao a research position. Chiarelli also introduced Toliao to Pradip Chaudhari, a CHLA-based physician and associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Powered by Chiarelli and Chaudhari’s mentorship, as well as a USC Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship and a Goldwater Scholarship, Toliao pursued multiple projects across his undergraduate years centered on improving brain imaging for children. He investigated the use of rapid MRI scans as well as new, portable MRI systems. He also helped develop MRI sequences to improve care for patients with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition caused by the buildup of fluid in the brain.

“The brain is one of the most important organs in the body, yet it is still very unknown, which is why I love studying it,” says Toliao, who also received the Dean Joan Metcalf Schaefer Scholarship and the Brian Phillip Rakusin Neuroscience Scholarship Award at USC Dornsife.

His research efforts have already helped others: He standardized a specialized MRI sequence, so now patients nationwide can benefit. He also has co-authored a dozen scientific papers currently in print or under peer review and is first author on seven of them — an astounding achievement for an undergraduate.

Pursuing a Spanish minor, an academic decision strategically designed to help him provide care to a broader range of patients, Toliao taught Medical Spanish classes to students at the Keck School of Medicine. In addition, he founded Conversations without Borders to connect USC students with Latin American students to teach English and promote cultural understanding.

“Improving medical care is not only about speaking the same language but understanding cultural views on health care, as well,” Toliao says.

USC Dornsife senior puts empathy into practice

Like Toliao, Renneker’s passion for medicine intensified at USC.

A USC Presidential Scholar, Renneker studied stem cells at the Keck School of Medicine and worked at East L.A.’s White Memorial Hospital through USC Dornsife’s Gateway Internship Program. At White Memorial, a safety net hospital providing care to underserved populations, Renneker gained critical exposure to various medical specialties and practiced “the nitty gritty of hospital work,” from taking vital signs to feeding and bathing patients.

“I learned firsthand how powerful it is to help those who really need it,” Renneker says.

Fueled by support from the USC Dream Dollars Program, a novel initiative empowering career exploration in nonprofit and government fields, Renneker completed a summer internship investigating anxiety disorders at the National Institutes of Health.

At USC, Renneker also found opportunities for service. She joined Trojan Health Interpretation Services as an ad hoc Spanish interpreter and served as president of the American Lung Association’s USC chapter, where she led campus-wide education and outreach on respiratory health.

“USC didn’t give me empathy; it gave me the chance to live it,” she says.

Bright futures in store for graduating USC Dornsife seniors

Renneker and Toliao now look into a future packed with compelling possibilities.

Renneker will start medical school this summer and hopes to someday open her own clinic in a still-to-be-determined specialty field.

“I’m excited to continue learning about the body and building real relationships with patients so they feel understood and supported,” she says. “I see an opportunity to support people in environments and situations that can feel overwhelming.”

Toliao, meanwhile, plans to remain at USC, enrolling in the Keck School of Medicine and continuing his research projects. Long term, he looks to land a position in academic medicine so he can pursue research and clinical care simultaneously.

“I understand the feeling of being that scared, confused patient who sought doctors for comfort and information,” he says. “Not only do I want to help my patients physically but also mentally and emotionally, as well.”