Growing up in Boston’s predominantly Black Roxbury neighborhood, twins Asia and Ashley Matthew began to understand that they wanted to improve the medical prognosis for underserved residents of low-income communities.
When they moved to Quincy, Mass., at age 13 and matriculated at Quincy High School, they had a choice of colleges. They selected Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only historically Black Catholic university and an institution known for its STEM programs and its annual number-one national ranking for sending the most African-Americans to medical schools.
After graduating from Xavier this year with 4.0 GPAs in both pre-med and chemistry, Asia and Ashley, now 22, are now enrolled in the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
But there’s more.
Not only were they accepted into UMass’ medical school, but they were admitted into the prestigious M.D./Ph.D. joint program with the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, which accepts no more than 10 students each year. For the first time, they were actually planning to go their separate ways. “We applied together, but it’s very, very difficult to get into UMass, which was our number one choice,” Asia told Diverse. “So we had discussed early on that it was probably time for us to separate and spread our wings.”
They’re happy that they’re still together and attending medical school in their home state. All the better for pursuing their number two passion: mentoring and encouraging young people to pursue STEM careers.
“We definitely want to be role models for other people. It’s really important,” said Asia, who views their newfound celebrity as an opportunity to speak out on “clear disparities” that exist in health care. “We need more African-American women, especially in research to help determine why we have disparities — such as more high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease — in our communities.”
