At AIHP, we believe that our people are what make us truly special. Today, we’re excited to introduce you to one of the amazing individuals who gives their time and talent to the Institute. Meet Katelyn Hong Kay Lai, our newest intern.
Katelyn is a first-year undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry with an interest in double-majoring in Pharmacology and Toxicology. I was originally interested in a career in Pharmacy, but I am excited to do some career exploration throughout college! I am working to learn about archival processes and more about other aspects of pharmacy through AIHP.
What excites you about your internship at AIHP?
As a more niche organization, I am excited to help AIHP preserve the more historical aspects of pharmacy, and I hope to experience more of the archival process of the diversity of artifacts AIHP has!
What is special to you about our current collections projects?
Just like when I first wanted to join, I am not specifically drawn to a particular collection, but more so the overall mission of AIHP, and I wish to help make the collection of artifacts more known and accessible, as I have become infatuated by the various documents I have seen so far.
Have you encountered anything in the collections that you found to be particularly exciting to work with or want to share with the public?
I have been working with biographical documents of UW-Madison Alumni, which has been very captivating seeing the diversity of characters over the history of the pharmacy program here!
The AIHP is over eighty years old, and you can still see the traces of people who have contributed time and effort into its mission. What mark do you hope to leave on the Institute?
I hope that I can help the Institute make our resources more available and draw more attention to our flurry of resources in historical pharmacy, in any way shape or form.
Bonus: Any other fun facts you’d like to share?
Interestingly enough, I wanted to be a librarian as a child, so this is a fulfillment of a childhood dream in some sense!
