Peabody Student Earns Prestigious BU Award For COVID-19 Efforts

PEABODY, MA — A Peabody student was honored for her extraordinary dedication and impeccable character throughout the COVID-19 crisis as a student at Boston University's College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College.

Caitlyn Leonard received the Bernard Kutner Award as the student who "exemplifies the ideals of Sargent College through excellence of scholarship, high moral character, and outstanding service to the school and community, as well as loyalty, service to one's fellow students and exemplary potential as a health care professional."

Leonard received her award at the May 20 Senior Awards Reception before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in human physiology on May 22.

"Caitlyn is a highly gifted individual who achieves excellence in all her endeavors," said Shannon Peters, a lecturer in the health science program and Leonard's thesis advisor. "She is an active and proud member of the Sargent community, serving as a Dean's Host and treasurer of the Sargent College Honor Society.

"She is resourceful and inquisitive, and she has produced exceptional research and scholarship that will have profound impacts on substance use treatment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Leonard was a contact tracer for the Massachusetts COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative, a research assistant at the Lee Kum Sheng Center for Health and Happiness, and NICU and MSICU volunteer at Boston Children's Hospital.

She also served as a teaching assistant for the BU Chemistry department and was a research trainee in the Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Her honors thesis was a qualitative study investigating how the COVID-19 health crisis has influenced substance use professionals' experiences in providing outpatient therapy throughout the state.

"My actions are not only grounded by my belief in the concept of well-being, but also by my faith in the resilience of my community, friends, and family," Leonard said. "Each day, my leadership skills are continuously strengthened by the messages of love that I receive from my neighbors, mentors, family, and friends.

"Ultimately, true leadership is planting roots and choosing to flourish alongside the other roses who share the garden with you."

Leonard will return to Boston University in the fall to complete her Master’s in Public Health.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)