A Strong Sense of Community Service
Lauren Bystrom finds her calling in outreach
By Bob Woods
Photography by Peter Freed
Lauren Bystrom is researching a novel treatment for opioid use disorder.
W
hen Lauren Bystrom was applying to medical schools, a signature program at the Miller School of Medicine sealed the deal for her. “Wolfson DOCS definitely attracted me,” she said, referring to what’s formally known as the Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Department of Community Service, a student-run program that provides essential health care to underserved populations throughout South Florida. “I thought it was really important to find a medical school that had a strong sense of community service, and the Wolfson DOCS program is truly one of a kind,” she said.
Bystrom’s family emigrated to the U.S. from Brazil when she was 4 and moved around before settling down in Chicago. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Minnesota in 2020, then she launched the post-graduate search that brought her to Miami.
Bystrom is an M.D./Ph.D. student in the Miller School’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). Now in her fifth year, she’s involved in a research project studying a novel treatment for opioid use disorder. She was recently awarded a prestigious National Institutes of Health grant to further fund her efforts.
Meanwhile, Bystrom remains committed to volunteer work with Wolfson DOCS.
“I’ve been on the executive board and have held other positions around the program,” she said. In September, she served as project manager for the Wolfson DOCS Liberty City Health Fair, one of several such one-day events during which Miller School students and faculty members bring medical services and screenings to members of the community. “I plan on participating in the Fort Lauderdale Health Fair later this year, which serves many Portuguese-speaking patients,” she said, alluding to her fluency in that language.
Besides the program, Bystrom has also benefited from extracurricular opportunities offered by the MSTP, including mentorships, an annual retreat and professional development sessions. “We get to know every single person in the program, and everyone feels a genuine sense of community.”
Bystrom also has her long-term plans laid out. “I want to go into neurosurgery and study how medical devices, such as those currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease, can be used in the context of other diseases,” she said. “There’s a lot of exciting research being done in this field.” 
