This Pitt senior savors the challenge

Joao Barichello is used to feeling out of his depth.

Sixth grade found him in a Houston, Texas, middle school, learning English from scratch. His arrival at the University of Pittsburgh saw him in a demanding biology class, starting over again. Sophomore year brought him to a hospital trauma bay, tasked with signing up patients for clinical trials as they were being rushed to surgery. Each time, he was thrown into a new world with new rules — but he’s come to treasure the challenge.

“The moment you can acknowledge that you don’t know something, that’s when you can move forward and grow as a person and as a researcher,” said Barichello, a senior biology major at Pitt.

One early moment of growth for Barichello was when his family moved to Texas from Brazil. It took him a year to learn enough English to do well in his classes and as he picked up one new vocabulary, he grew enamored with the language of science, too.

“It felt very similar,” he said. “It was an opportunity to understand things on a deeper level, and I wanted to become fluent in it, just like how I had to become fluent in English.”

That new interest took him to Pitt in search of opportunities to branch out in medicine. He found so much value in his first college biology class with Laura Zapanta, a teaching assistant of biological sciences in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, that he became a teaching assistant for her class. He held the role for four semesters across several different courses. Supporting new students in their endeavors — both those in and out of the classroom — became an anchor of his own experience at Pitt.

At the same time, Barichello sought out experiences in research. Summer roles at Baylor College of Medicine and Emory University broadened his scientific expertise and helped focus and contextualize his studies. And sophomore year, he began a clinical research internship that would be perhaps his biggest challenge yet.

In the Multidisciplinary Acute Care Research Organization (MACRO), a program in Pitt’s Department of Critical Care Medicine, students work in emergency departments, operating rooms and intensive care units to enroll patients in clinical trials. There, Barichello had to quickly build confidence while finding his place in the fast-paced, high-intensity world of trauma care.

“There were moments when I doubted myself,” he said. “‘What am I doing here? Do I really belong here? Am I getting in the way of the team?’ But with time, I began to develop myself. I found myself overcoming my social anxiety and just becoming the person I wanted to be.”

Two and a half years later, the program has been both a catalyst for growth and a window into the world of clinical medicine for Barichello. Another program that’s spurred him on has been Panthers Forward, a loan relief program that matches graduating seniors with mentors while offering financial wellness programming that empowers students to feel in control and prepared for their futures.

Attracted by the program’s goal of developing future leaders who will then themselves give back, Barichello was paired with Tom Cedel (A&S ’71, ’79G), chancellor emeritus of Concordia University in Austin, Texas. Cedel has been helping Barichello with medical school applications and introducing him to people he met in his time with the U.S. Air Force.

“It’s one of the greatest experiences of my life, all of the different connections I’ve been able to make with him,” Barichello said. “He’s really been helpful. I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor.”

After graduation, Barichello will spend a year at McGovern Medical School in Houston, working as a research coordinator for a neurodegenerative disease center and running a biobank before heading to medical school. Then, he hopes to return to Brazil and take part in the country’s own thriving medical research community, combining both the research he’s been able to do in English and Portuguese and the connections he’s been able to make in the two countries.

Thanks to his habit of seeking out new experiences, Barichello has seen himself grow profoundly and accumulate a broad resume in his years at the University. His advice for other Pitt students is not to avoid feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed — but rather to seek those feelings out.

“Pitt has so many opportunities and enables you to go to so many places,” he said. “Just put yourself out there. What you put out at Pitt, you'll be able to get twofold back.”

Photography by Tom Altany