Antigua and Barbuda Scholar Dr. Marissa Michael Graduates with Top Honors from Weill Cornell Medical College

Antigua and Barbuda Scholar Dr. Marissa Michael Graduates with Top Honors from Weill Cornell Medical College

Dr. Marissa Michael, a standout medical student from Antigua and Barbuda, graduated with distinction from Weill Cornell Medical College on May 15, 2025. Dr. Michael’s academic and research achievements have garnered recognition from esteemed surgical societies and academic institutions based in the United States, underscoring her role as a rising leader in surgical medicine.

The daughter of Francis and Teresa-Anne Michael, Marissa has long been known for her academic excellence. She was Antigua and Barbuda’s Island Scholar for the 2014 CSEC examinations and the top scorer on the 2009 Common Entrance Examinations. She graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in 2018. At Weill Cornell Medical College, she continued her tradition of academic success, earning numerous awards from the medical school by the time of her graduation.

Dr. Michael was awarded a Certificate of Distinction in Global Health for her deep engagement in international health initiatives, including research on global health partnerships, which she presented at the International Society for Burns Injuries Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2022, and a clinical elective in Doha, Qatar.

Her research career is equally impressive. As a second-year student, she earned 2nd Prize for Posters at Weill Cornell Medical Student Research Day for a project conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In 2024, she won First Place in Clinical Research at the American College of Surgeons Medical Student Program for a study validating a diagnostic tool for occult tethered cord syndrome. She also designed and served as a sub-investigator on a randomized-controlled clinical trial in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell.

Dr. Michael’s Area of Scholarly Concentration – an area of research focus during medical school – was conducted in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell. Her work exploring tumor-draining lymph nodes in non-small cell lung cancer response to immunotherapy earned her the Best Thoracic Presentation Award at the inaugural Women in Thoracic Surgery Conference (San Diego, 2024). She also presented work related to this project at the prestigious American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting (Seattle, 2025). For this work, at the Weill Cornell 2025 Convocation Ceremony, she received an Area of Concentration Certificate of Excellence and the Susanna Cunningham-Rundles Medical Student Research Prize, awarded to the medical student with the most outstanding research completed in the graduating class.                                                                                                         

In addition to her research accolades, Dr. Michael was awarded the Clarence C. Coryell Prize in Surgery for highest performance in surgical rotations and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the highest distinction a U.S. medical student can receive, recognizing the top ~20% of the class for scholarship, leadership, professionalism, and service.

Dr. Michael will continue her training in a competitive General Surgery Residency Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital – Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she will complete five years of clinical training and two years of research. Her goal is to subspecialize in thoracic surgery with a focus on thoracic oncology. “Dr. Michael’s achievements exemplify the best of what medicine and academic commitment can produce,” said a spokesperson for the Antigua and Barbuda government. “She brings honor not only to her institution but to her country.”

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