Get to know the authorDavid Miller is the first recipient of the Bright!Tax Global Scholar Award in 2020.
Bright!Tax is the leading provider of US tax services for Americans living abroad. With expat clients in over 190 countries, Bright!Tax is keenly aware of the benefits of living abroad, and how the over 9 million US expats are both the new American pioneers and an army of informal American ambassadors overseas.
The Bright!Tax Global Scholar Award was established in 2017 to assist exceptional young Americans with ambitions to study overseas.
David Miller was the stand-out candidate in a crowded and talented field of over 100 candidates for the first award in 2020.
David recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an undergraduate degree in Physics, and with Bright!Tax’s support he will be taking up a place on a master’s degree course in Health Science Data at University College London (UCL) in September 2020.
Following the untimely demise of a relative due to cancer, David volunteered in the University of Pennsylvania oncology department, spending time with patients, and enrolling them in clinical trials. He helped create a clinical database to improve radiation treatment in lymphoma.
This work spawned several research projects. In one, David helped extract and analyze the effects of radiation on Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, a breakthrough cancer treatment in leukemia and lymphoma developed at the University of Pennsylvania. This original research produced four journal publications and an abstract that was awarded the Resident Clinical Research Award at the 2019 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Conference.
David is also Chief Science Officer of MyGrow Design, a biotech startup funded by the University of Pennsylvania’s start up incubator that develops biodegradable materials (alternatives to plastics) for sustainable product design.
“David is a shining example to all young Americans. Lots of young people want to change the world for the better, but David is doing it, taking concrete, positive, and considered steps” – Greg Dewald, Bright!Tax CEO
David said: “The defining American characteristic is determination. The spirit of our nation is rooted in its ability to confront a problem with a sense of urgency and ingenuity; to not back down from difficulty but to face it with resolve and ask how thinking differently can lead to new solutions. This is the type of determination that was woven throughout all of the stories I grew up hearing about the founding of our country. It took a personal tragedy for me to glimpse this in my own story. The experience moved me to alter my career path from physics to medicine and drove me to see the potential of science anew: the use of knowledge to reduce suffering. ”
Bright!Tax CEO Greg Dewald created the Bright!Tax Global Scholar Award following his own experience of studying abroad.
Dewald said: “David is a shining example to all young Americans. Lots of young people want to change the world for the better, but David is doing it, taking concrete, positive, and considered steps. We were particularly impressed by his clarity of thought and mature attitudes towards both his future and what it means to be American. The world needs individuals like David, and with our support I’m sure he’ll achieve great things.”
Bright!Tax is an award-winning leading provider of US tax services to the estimated 9 million Americans living overseas.
