BVIS Class of 2025

Nimisha grew up in Elmhurst, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for undergraduate college, earning her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry with a minor in art back in 2021. Her love for traditional art at a young age competed with her interest in sciences due to her family’s background in medicine. Initially on the pre-med track, she then discovered the field of biomedical visualization late into her years in undergraduate college and decided to commit to this field as it combined her two passions in science and art. Nimisha then took two gap years to sharpen her art skills and learn more about the field. During that time, she also worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Medicine building in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism as a lab technician and lab manager. Her research work there revolved around gut-brain axis communications in relation to mental health and diabetes.

As she currently attends the BVIS program, Nimisha is most excited to learn about skills in illustrative work, animation, and 3D modeling. A potential career choice after she earns her master’s degree is to become a clinical anaplastologist as she likes the idea of creating prosthetic models and interacting with patients by utilizing her own artistry and anatomical knowledge to help them.

Jordan Aranda grew up in Arizona and always knew she had an interest in both art and science. She attended Northern Arizona University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Studio Art. Post graduation Jordan worked in a variety of healthcare roles including work as a medical assistant, endoscopy tech and animal care technician. She finally found her passion in the field of biomedical visualization and worked in the Coconino Community College biology lab department while preparing her application.

Jordan is thrilled to be a part of the BVIS program and is excited to have finally found a career that explores both her interests. She ultimately aspires to use the skills gained at BVIS to create engaging, informational art that educates audiences on both healthcare and science topics.

Kassie Baker is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Growing up, she loved drawing, painting, and being creative. She has also always been curious about the natural world and loves anything related to science and the human body. When she discovered the world of medical illustration in undergrad, her heart was set on combining her passions and pursuing a Master’s degree in medical illustration. She graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2023 with a double-major in Biomedical Science and Studio Art.

Kassie was drawn to the BVIS program because of its curriculum with plenty of elective options, its emphasis on student collaboration, and the supportive faculty and student environment. While at UIC, Kassie is excited for the opportunity to refine her traditional skills, learn new media, and become a better visual problem solver. Although she doesn’t know what specific path she will take after BVIS, she hopes to use what she learns to create engaging, accessible material that allows for better communication in the scientific world.

In her free time, you can find Kassie birdwatching, cooking, exploring nature, or hanging out with family and friends!

Juliana Bozeman was born and raised in League City, Texas, a suburb just south of Houston. From an early age, she took a great interest in art and medical science. She spent the majority of her childhood taking private art lessons from a local art studio and making frequent trips to the many science museums in the Houston area such as the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Space Center Houston, to name a few. In high school she discovered the field of medical illustration through one of her health science teachers. After attending Texas A&M University to pursue her undergraduate degree, Juliana decided to shift her path towards a career in medical illustration viewing it as a perfect opportunity to pursue both of her passions. She graduated from Texas A&M in 2021 with a bachelors degree in Biomedical Science complete with a minor in Traditional Art.

During her time at BVIS, Juliana looks forward to learning more about 3D modeling and animation while continuing to develop her skills in traditional illustration. She aims to use her talents as a means of increasing the accessibility and inclusivity of medical education. In her free time, you can find Juliana enjoying live music, cooking, and talking about her cats.

Isabella was born in New York to Polish immigrant parents. She moved to Boston in middle school and later attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. There, she was part of marching band, fencing club, animation club, and more. She had the opportunity to study abroad and chose to go the Hong Kong for a semester. She completed a bachelor’s in science in Microbiology in 2018. After working in microbiology labs throughout and after her undergraduate studies, she realized that lab work was not for her. She wanted to combine her love of science with her passion for art and found medical illustration. After she discovered the field, she set her sights on a career in biomedical visualization.

In 2019, Isabella moved to Tokyo, Japan to teach English. In 2020, she moved to Scotland in the United Kingdom to complete a program in the Glasgow School of Art and Glasgow University that helped pave her way to applying to UIC. Afterwards, she moved to Poland and freelanced, taught English, and worked on applying to UIC. She’s excited to be part of the class of 2025 at the University of Illinois, Biomedical visualization program.

Chelsey Crile is an Iowa native who completed her undergraduate at Iowa State University in Biological/Pre-Medical Illustration. During and after her time at ISU she worked as a graphic designer and curriculum content specialist at a software company. She worked with educators to develop e-learning modules and identify anatomy in 3D via radiological image rendering. These experiences motivated her to pursue a masters degree to become a medical visualizer.

While at BVIS, Chelsey hopes to develop her skills and knowledge in digital mediums, both through illustration and 3D modeling, to communicate medicine and pathology through visual aids. In her extracurricular time she enjoys cuddling with her cats while playing video games and watching horror movies.

Hayley is originally from northern New Jersey. She was introduced to the field of medical illustration in high school by her guidance counselor. Appreciating that she could pursue both of her interests, Hayley attended the College of Charleston for her undergraduate studies. She graduated in 2022 with a B.A. in Biology, B.A. in Studio Art and a minor in Jewish Studies.

While attending UIC BVIS, Hayley is looking forward to exploring all of the opportunities and paths within the field, especially illustration and animation. She is excited to learn and grow as a visual communicator and hopes to make an impact within the field upon graduation. She is interested in creating visuals for educational purposes and communicating scientific concepts to benefit undergraduate, professional, and patient populations.

Alex Dimeff was raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. They received a BA in English Literature from the University of Michigan in 2012 and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Orleans in 2016.

Alex’s biomedical interests include neuroscience and developmental biology. During their time in BVIS, they hope to hone the fundamentals of traditional art techniques while exploring digital media. What excites them most about medical visualization is the chance to use visual storytelling to make the work of researchers and clinicians more accessible to all audiences.

Outside of school, Alex enjoys solving crossword puzzles, watching film noir, and appreciating the existence of whales. Their favorite places in Chicago so far (outside of the Applied Health Sciences Building) are The Field Museum and the Great Hall of Union Station.

Alex grew up in the Chicagoland area. He has been interested in human anatomy since he can remember. He has a very special affinity for Gray’s Anatomy and thanks his mother for getting him his first copy at a very young age. Alex attended the University of Chicago with a concentration in political science. He also took fine art courses at the U of C. Alex received Master of Art and Master of Fine Art degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His professional art practice has primarily focused on human and non-human animal relationships and the human biological form.

Alex has worked in the legal industry for a decade as a litigation paralegal with a boutique law firm in Chicago. He intends to pursue further work in the legal industry in the medical legal community following graduation, where he hopes to continue to serve clients and build expertise in illustration, animation, and virtual, augmented and mixed reality environments.

Alex lives in the Chicagoland area with his wife, Rose, and two daughters. Outside of legal and artistic pursuits, Alex enjoys playing with his daughters, renovating properties, following popular science, reading hard science fiction and watching science fiction films.

Mckenzie grew up in a small reservation town in rural Montana and later attended Whitworth University in Washington state to study the health sciences. After graduating, she went on to explore numerous health fields, ultimately culminating in an EMT position. After realizing that she longed for a career where she could incorporate her artwork into her daily life, she began the quest towards the field of Medical Illustration. As a self taught passionate artist, and someone who thrives within the health sciences and anatomical realms, she sought after a career that could combine these two passions. After a long year of dedicating all of her free time to improving her artwork, she was accepted to the Biomedical Visualization program at The University of Chicago. Upon entering the Biomedical Visualization program, she found that both of her passions could be put to good use within the endless opportunities in the field of Medical Illustration. She hopes to use her talent to create 3D animations to educate both patients and providers as well as 2D illustrations for publication and print. Mckenzie plans to leave her lasting mark on the world through her art, passion, and dazzling good looks.

Emma is most recently from Norfolk, VA, although she was born and raised in San Diego, CA. When researching potential career paths in college, Emma discovered the field of scientific and medical illustration and knew it would be a perfect fit for her passions for fine arts and science. In 2022, Emma graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Communication Arts and a concentration in Scientific Illustration.

In her graduate studies at UIC, Emma is looking forward to learning all that the field of Biomedical Visualization has to offer. Her interests lie in illustration for patient education, medical legal settings, and any opportunity to illustrate wildlife and/or botany. Emma is excited to be living in Chicago for the next few years with her husband and beloved cat.

Hannah Hurst knew she wanted to be an artist and a storyteller growing up. Later in school she realized her love of the sciences and decided to study Biomedical Visualization to unite those two passions. She is especially interested in exploring the intersection between traditional illustration methods and cutting edge technologies.

Hannah is a Texas native, born and raised in Houston. She attended The University of Texas at Austin where she earned a B.S. in Art and Entertainment Technologies and the Elements of Computing Certificate.

Katherine was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado. She graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a BS in Biology and a minor in traditional drawing and painting. From a young age, she always had interests in both biological sciences and art. For much of her life, she was always feeling torn, that she had no choice but to choose one or the other. It was not until she discovered the field of medical illustration during her undergrad that she realized she could combine her two passions together.

During her time at BVIS, Katherine’s goals are to develop and hone her skills in 3D modeling, animation, and mixed reality. In the future, Katherine aims to use her work to encourage and increase health literacy and accessibility, especially in historically underrepresented communities. In her free time, Katherine loves to spend time traveling, exploring the outdoors, and caring for her houseplants.

Payton grew up in Northeast Tennessee and spent most of her childhood drawing, painting, and riding horses. From an early age, she had passions for both art and medicine, which were largely inspired by her grandmother, Marielle Magnant, who spent a lifetime collecting fine art, managing her husband’s busy Pediatrics practice, and raising eight children (six of whom became physicians).

Payton studied Biochemistry at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. It was during this time that she became an avid Tennessee Vols football fan and expanded her creative career painting murals for the Vols athletic department. After graduation, she attended medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. in 2021, she matched into general surgery residency at Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has completed two clinical years of general surgery residency and is currently completing a research fellowship with the IU RISE (Research in Innovative Surgical Education) group in Indianapolis, under the instruction of Dr. Dimitrios Stefanidis.

Payton is interested in using skills learned in the BVIS program to contribute to development of superior surgical simulation. She is also interested in app development for medical student and resident education, and illustration for representation of novel surgical techniques. At this time, her surgical interests are broad and include robotic surgery, vascular surgery, and plastic surgery. She is looking forward to making visualization a stable part of her surgical practice.

When Marco was a kid, the answer to, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was always the same: either a doctor or an artist. It seemed like the answer was a definitive “artist” when he went off to RISD to study Illustration years later. But while he was there, he reawakened a passion for nature, science, and medicine while taking classes such as Scientific Illustration, Comparative Anatomy, and Artistic Anatomy, and working at RISD’s renowned Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab. After graduating in 2021, Marco returned home to Atlanta, Georgia to attend Emory University, where he completed the necessary science coursework to apply to the several Medical Illustration graduate programs around the country. And while he did interview with them all, the Biomedical Visualization program at UIC was by far the best fit.

At BVIS, Marco hopes to continue honing his illustration skills that he first sharpened at RISD, and to stay curious about new techniques and ways of making. He hopes to look to the past at how medical illustration was brought into its own by greats like Tom Jones and Max Brödel, and to look to the future for new ways we can interact with science and medicine using cutting-edge techniques such as virtual and augmented reality. During his time at BVIS, he is interested in pursuing the 3D world and game design, as well as continuing to delve deeper into the world of traditional media.

Elizabeth received her Bachelors of Science degree from Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College in Environmental Sciences and Management while also minoring in Bioethics in May of 2022. During her free time there she volunteered in local wildlife rehabilitation, painted murals for the university and enjoyed skiing and water sports. She has a background in Animal Behavior and Welfare, Biology, Chemistry, and Marine Ecology Research. She discovered the field of medical illustration when she met a Certified Medical Illustrator that graduated from UIC’s Masters program in Biomedical Visualization and upon further research decided that the field aligned greatly with her interests and values. A connection to art was always the missing piece in her career journey and she applied to UIC’s Masters in Biomedical Visualization program to make that dream a reality.

Now that she is in the program, Elizabeth has narrowed her interests to 3D modeling, gamification, animation and digital Illustration. She is still trying to figure out exactly where this will take her, and knows that regardless she is excited to pursue her passion to blend art and medicine while making an impact with her educational scientific communications.

Michelle Soltys is a first-year student in the BVIS program. She attended UIC as an undergraduate student and majored in Biology. During her undergraduate education, she discovered the field of medical illustration and decided to pursue a Master’s degree in this field to merge two of her life’s passions—art and science. Within this field, Michelle is interested in creating 3D models, interactive media, and other tools to educate audiences on a variety of health topics. She is especially interested in refining her knowledge of human anatomy and hopes to depict this expanded understanding in her work. Outside of creating art, Michelle’s hobbies include mushroom foraging, listening to podcasts, and writing. She is excited to continue to explore the field of medical illustration in the future.

After multiple moves across the US, from California to South Carolina to Texas, Madison found two things that always stayed the same: her passion for art and her love for science. With a general goal of pursuing a career in the sciences, she took pre-med classes during undergrad. By junior year, Madison naturally gravitated towards an art minor, which led her to discover Biomedical Visualization. She was thrilled to find a field that combined visual and creative problem-solving with the communication and acquisition of scientific knowledge. While balancing her science and art classes, Madison was also a core player on the women’s water polo team. Madison graduated in 2022 from Austin College with BS in Biology and a minor in art. After graduation, she took a gap year where she spent her time developing her portfolio, doing freelance illustration, and working as a lifeguard in San Clemente, CA.

During her time at BVIS, Madison hopes to explore 3D modeling and animation, but is open to learning everything the program has to offer. While she is still figuring out her specific career goals, Madison is passionate about contributing to the advancement and accessibility of medicine through visual communication.

Joanna is from Dublin, Ohio, and graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Neuroscience. Later in her academic career, she made time for a minor in Studio Art – which ultimately prompted her to pursue Medical Illustration as a career. Joanna has always held a deep fondness for animals, and worked as a Veterinary Assistant while completing her undergraduate degree. This experience led her to be interested in contributing to veterinary illustration in addition to human medical art. She is most interested in traditional illustration, as well as 3D modeling. She is still exploring what the world of Medical Illustration encompasses, but her ultimate goal is to bring realistic, appealing educational material to human and animal medical art. In her free time, Joanna enjoys spending time with her rescue pup (Hank), reading, trying new food, thrifting, and playing hockey when she can. She has a podcast or music playing at nearly all times.

Vivian is a first-generation student from the suburbs of Maryland. She grew up fascinated by the human mind and body, and drew on everything she could get her hands on. She went to Tufts University, where she earned a BS in Biopsychology and minored in Studio Art.
During her time in undergrad, she was involved with a community health organization that conducted outreach to medically underserved populations in the Greater Boston Area. While volunteering at clinics and shadowing at hospitals, she realized that there was a great gap in understanding between medical professionals and patients. She discovered that visual communication was a powerful tool in bridging this gap, and gained an interest in the biomedical visualization field. After graduating, she worked as a Healthcare Transformation Intern for the Maryland Department of Health, where she focused on developing learning content for the Primary Care Program and creating educational materials for patients and providers.
Through the BVIS program, she hopes to continue to help audiences better digest complex medical topics through visual problem-solving, and spark further interest and engagement with these materials. She is thrilled to be exploring new mediums through the BVIS curriculum to expand her toolbox of creative skills.