Halfway through college Miles Guralnick realized that he wanted to become a doctor. After graduating last year, his current internship at Hadassah’s Biological Psychiatry Lab in Jerusalem is putting him one step closer to doing so.
“It’s psychiatric research that is working towards being able to better treat all sorts of mental illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, OCD, really anything you can imagine. We’re testing different, new psychotropic drugs to be able to one day have better treatments for everyone,” he said.
Guralnick works hands-on in the psychotropic experiments on mice, and he believes this science is groundbreaking, he said.
“Ten years from now, we’ll be able to look back to this time and see how this was the beginning of all of it. This is when so many scientists and doctors are putting their careers on the line to be able to do work that I think is going to totally change mental health treatment and psychiatry,” he said.
The 22-year-old grew up in Milwaukee and graduated last year from the University of Toronto with a business degree.
His experiences in Israel now remind him of his time at Camp Interlaken, where he attended as a camper for eight years and staff member for two years, he said.
“Every time here in Israel that I hear a tune being sung by Reform or Orthodox Jews on Shabbat that we used to sing at camp it just makes me super happy,” he said.
Guralnick attended Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid and was part of the BBYO-Wisconsin Region.
Guralnick’s internship also includes a Yeshiva component where he has taken classes about Jewish philosophy and Talmud studies.
His favorite so far has been the Talmud studies, and he believes that many of the lessons in the Torah are still applicable to today’s society, he said.
Outside of his internship, Guralnick has gotten involved with Tikvah for Parkinson, a non-profit organization that provides support and resources to the Parkinson community in Jerusalem, where he helps teach boxing classes.
Guralnick felt that this organization was important because they cater their offerings specifically to Orthodox Jews, offering separate classes for men and women, he said.
He even ran the Jerusalem Marathon and raised money for Tikvah for Parkinson.
“I set up a fundraiser in honor of them while I was training for the marathon and raised over $3,600 from people all across the world,” he said.
“The marathon was kind of the highlight of my experience so far and one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. It was kind of a culmination of everything, supporting the Jewish community, supporting the medical community and just doing something really crazy and fun, which is a big part of who I am,” he said.
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Miles Guralnick attended Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid and was part of the BBYO-Wisconsin Region.
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