Simone's Story

Meet Simone

Simone 3

Simone, a Chicago native, moved to France at the age of 13 with her parents. When she is not studying in her French immersion program, she enjoys traveling and sports. The sports she most enjoys are volleyball and soccer and in her spare time, Simone puts a pen to the paper and draws or spends time at home relaxing while watching her favorite streaming service.

I heard about Greater Gift through my mom in 2017. She knew about Greater Gift during the many years she has spent working in clinical research.

Tell me about the project you had to do.

When my group and I were brainstorming ideas for our class project my mom presented me with the idea of Greater Gift as an alternative to what we were considering. I immediately loved the idea and presented it to my group, and they loved it too. Although we could not physically deliver the vaccines to the children, we thought this was a great project to do something unique and host a fundraiser initiative to support the overall mission of Greater Gift. I really love the focus of bringing greater awareness to clinical trial participation and making an impact in the lives of children in need. Through this project we raised funds for 20 vaccines! I remember during our presentation many parents and our peers were very impressed that our 20 vaccines targeted 5 diseases per child given Greater Gift supports the pentavalent campaign in partnership with Gavi. They were also impressed with our dedication for raising money and making an impact.

When you hear of the mission of Greater Gift, what comes to mind?

How much of an impact it is for kids’ lives and the work they are doing in clinical research. It’s crazy to think that children might die at an early age because they don’t have access to

preventive measures. I imagine how our contributions put smiles on parents faces knowing that their children have an opportunity to grow up.

For a really long-time, clinical research was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. I realized through this project and all that my mom shares with me, that clinical research is really important. It is the way to get vaccines, and all medicines for that matter, even something as simple as cough syrup to people who need them. I believe this project opened my eyes and I now understand why it is important.

What is your hope for the future of clinical trials?

I hope one day everyone, like I did, comes to the realization of how important clinical trials are and why we need more participants.

Describe clinical trials in three words.

Important. Impactful. Incredible.

Are you ready to help?