University of Pennsylvania Graduate Leadership Award
President & Provost’s Honor for Developing New Initiatives in Graduate & Professional Student Life
Ludwig Zhao, Ph.D. in Bioengineering
This award recognizes graduating students who have created lasting developments that enhance graduate and professional student life. Zhao was recognized for his extensive service and leadership through multiple roles within the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA) and on University committees, as well as his sustained advocacy for research students at Penn.
School of Engineering and Applied Science Graduate Awards
Outstanding Academic
Lydia Lam, Master’s of Biotechnology, a joint program of the School of Arts and Sciences and Penn Engineering
Outstanding Research
Xiaomei Li, Master’s of Biotechnology, a joint program of the School of Arts and Sciences and Penn Engineering
Honorable Mention, Outstanding Research
Zimeng Wang, Master’s in Bioengineering
Department of Bioengineering
Solomon R. Pollack Awards for Excellence in Graduate Bioengineering Research
The Solomon R. Pollack Award for Excellence in Graduate Bioengineering Research is given annually to the most deserving Bioengineering graduate students who have successfully completed research that is original and recognized as being at the forefront of their field.
Brian Vu, Ph.D. in Bioengineering
- Advisor: Dr. Chamith Rajapakse
- Dissertation Title: Rapid, High-resolution, and Signal-efficient Methods for the Clinical Translation of Bone Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Hannah Geisler, Ph.D. in Bioengineering
- Advisor: Dr. Mike MItchell
- Dissertation Title: Engineering targeted lipid nanoparticles for RNA delivery to the placenta
Paul Jacobs, Ph.D. in Bioengineering
- Advisor: Dr. Ravinder Reddy
- Dissertation Title: Novel Metasurfaces for Mitigation of B1 Inhomogeneities in NOE and CEST MRI at 7T: Clinical Applications in White Matter Demyelinating Pathology
Stanford University
Knight-Hennessy Scholar
Brianna Leung, Master’s in Bioengineering
The Stanford University program provides up to three years of financial support for graduate study, along with global leadership training through a multidisciplinary cohort of scholars. Leung will pursue a Ph.D. in bioengineering at Stanford’s School of Engineering and School of Medicine. At Penn, she built Empathera, a startup focused on pressure ulcer prevention, revived Penn ADAPT and launched Enginuity, a platform that connects student engineers with people with disabilities to support community-driven assistive technology design. Her research on adaptive deep brain stimulation algorithms has also been recognized by Penn Bioengineering and at several conferences.
National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellowship Program
This fellowship program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. The fellowship provides three years of financial support, including an annual stipend and cost-of-education allowance, while helping prepare recipients to become leaders in research, teaching and innovation.
Current Bioengineering Ph.D Students:
Giana Vitale
Sylvia Cho
Roy Chen
Cayman Matson
Alexandra Dolynuk
Tal Dassau
Sasha Shefter
Emily Fitzgerald
Incoming Bioengineering Ph.D Students:
Lindsay Gallgher
Gene Weng
Chloe Connolly
Julia Patterson
Natalie Calahan
Evangeline Meyler
Cameron White
Aisha Mansoor
Lucy Park
Songman Li
Sara Hunihan
Rene DeBrabander
April Guo-Yue