Isabella Bushko

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.