The UTMB DIG extends its congratulations to MS4 Maeka De La Torre for her selection for the 2021 Basic Sciences or Humanities Selectives (BSHS) Essay Award. She will receive a $2000 check, award certificate, and biographies on Sir William Osler and John P. McGovern, the patron of the UTMB Osler Scholars. The virtual award ceremony is scheduled for May 18, 2021. Her winning essay, written for Dr. Richard Wagner’s Selective (Professor Dermatology and UTMB Dermatology Program Director), Narratives of Skin Diseases (DERU-4012) addressed acclaimed author John Updike’s personal experiences with psoriasis, through his famous fictional (“From the Journal of a Leper”) and autobiographical (“At War With My Skin”) essays that were published in The New Yorker literary magazine. Dr. Wagner’s Narratives Selective focuses on publications written by people experiencing several skin diseases such as albinism, vitiligo, leprosy, skin cancer, and psoriasis, and is offered every Period of the academic year. Ms. De La Torre will take a residency in pediatrics at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA following graduation from the UTMB SOM in June 2021.