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 Linda
Trinh was born on November 8, 1983 at Washington Adventist Hospital. She
went to Cresthaven Elementary School, Francis Scott Key Middle
School, Springbrook High School, before going to college at Johns Hopkins
University. Linda was a very intelligent person. Even in elementary school,
she took GT (Gifted and Talented) classes. In middle school, she took advanced
math courses. All of these were preliminaries to the extent of her aptitude.
In high school, Linda was in a challenging program called the International
Baccalaureate (IB) Program. Not only did she have a very rigorous course
through IB, she also took many Advanced Placement classes. Receiving straight
A's while taking challenging courses are very difficult, but Linda managed
to get A's in all four years of high school. Linda was not only an intellect,
but she was also athletic, lettering in gymnastics and volleyball in which
she received many awards. Linda was also a leader, voted for Class Council
Treasurer in her junior year and Homecoming Princess in both her junior and
senior year. Not only was Linda intelligent, athletic, and a leader, she
also cared and served her community. Through the National Honor Society,
Linda helped feed the poor, cared for the elderly, and tutored students.
She also taught for her church, the Our Lady of Vietnam Parish. Linda was also
involved in the Church Youth Group Thieu Nhi Thanh The (TNTT). TNTT members
help younger children become closer to God through fun activities and they
raise money for the church. She also helped choreograph dances as well as
danced in her younger years for the praise of the Virgin Mary performed in
church.
College is a time when many straight A students like Linda make the
mistake of indulging in their freedom to the extreme, Linda still kept up
her studies and had a healthy social life. Still a leader, Linda became Director
of Finance of her sorority Alpha Phi at Johns Hopkins University in her sophomore
year and then President in her junior year. Linda played
volleyball for the
first two years before she left the team to focus more on her studies. Majoring
in biomedical engineering, Linda aspired to become a medical doctor. To prepare
for her goal of being a doctor she became an assistant for Dr. Joseph
Gitlin. Linda worked in professor Joseph Gitlin’s research lab,
devising ways to use digital mammography to bring breast cancer screening
to women in poor communities. After a six-weeks
visit to her native country of Vietnam to work with cancer patients and
volunteer at an AIDS hospice, Linda decided that saving hundreds of lives
as a doctor would not be as beneficial to the world at large as becoming
a researcher. Linda
wanted to research for ways of curing AIDS and other diseases. She
split her research time working with Dr. Hai-Quan Mao’s group in the Whiting
School’s
Department of Materials Science & Engineering and with Dr. Hongjun Song’s lab
in the Institute for Cell Engineering in the School of Medicine. Linda
started research
on her thesis entitled "The Effects of Functionalized Nanofiber Scaffolds
on Adult Neural Stem Cell Proliferation and Differentiation."
She had the desire and plans to improve and better the lives of millions
of people by becoming a researcher, but her plans will sadly be delayed. Linda
was
murdered on
January 22, 2005. Even though Linda is not physically here to see her plans
through, her family and friends will continue her work.
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