Roads Less Travelled: Trailblazing Alums from the Class of 2011

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Bertilia TRIEU'11 (left) and Jie Ying WU'11 (right) chat with Grace McCallum (centre) on the PrincipalED podcast.

As we kick off Reunion Week, we’re delighted to bring you a special conversation on the PrincipalED podcast with two trailblazers from the Class of 2011: Bertilia Trieu and Jie Ying Wu.

Fifteen years ago, they were classmates in Higher Level Math and leaders in the Branksome community. Today, they are both pioneers in the medical field—but neither took the traditional path of a clinician. Instead, they are driving healthcare forward through innovation, research and data—Bertilia as Manager of Outcomes and Data Analytics at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, and Jie Ying as Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville—proving that the "Branksome way" is about far more than just following a script; it’s about writing a new one.

Join us for this special Reunion episode as we discuss:

  • The Non-Linear Path: How the IB curriculum gave Bertilia and Jie Ying the courage to pursue "unconventional" STEM careers in data analytics and machine learning.
  • From the Orchestra to the Lab: Memories of Residence life, the World Affairs Conference and orchestra rehearsals, and how those early leadership roles translated to the professional world.
  • Surgical Innovations: A look at how Jie Ying is turning robots into "intelligent assistants" and how Bertilia uses data to redefine patient outcomes.
  • Coming Home: What "Keeping Well the Road" means to them 15 years later as they prepare to reconnect with classmates at Reunion.

Whether you’re a current student curious about the future of healthcare or a fellow alum heading back to campus this May, this episode is a celebration of the shared roots and different paths that define our community.

Welcome home, Bertilia and Jie Ying, and the Class of 2011!

Listeners can follow along on Instagram at @principalEDpod for behind-the-scenes updates and exclusive content. The PrincipalED podcast is available for streaming on Apple and Spotify, where the official podcast music playlist is also available.

Branksome Hall’s YouTube channel features a full video version of this discussion, which can be viewed here.