fellowship – Penn Bioengineering Blog

September 10, 2025September 15, 2025

Summer Research Spotlight: Penn Bioengineering Fellows at Work

Each year, the the Department of Bioengineering seeks exceptional candidates to conduct summer research in bioengineering with the support of scholarships. This summer students participated in the Abraham Noordergraaf Student Summer Bioengineering Research Fellowship, the Blair Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Department of Bioengineering, and the IGEM Fellowship. These scholarships provide a living stipend for students to conduct research on campus in a Penn research lab under the mentorship of a faculty member.

Meet Our Summer Fellows

Abraham Noordergraaf Research Fellow

Name: Patricia Chen

Current Year and Major Program: Second year master’s student in Bioengineering

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kevin Johnson

Project Title: PCP-Bot: Leveraging Large Language Models for Multilingual AI-Assisted Pre-Visit Planning in Primary Care

Abstract: With the rise of electronic health records (EHRs), physicians now devote a substantial portion of patient encounters to clinical documentation, reducing the time available for direct patient interaction. Pre-visit planning is an important strategy for reviewing essential information in advance to improve efficiency, outcomes, and satisfaction. Increasingly, AI-powered chatbots are being deployed in healthcare settings. These systems offer a promising way to streamline this process. However, despite its growing adoption, chatbot performance disparities persist between English and non-English users. Recent cross-lingual LLM evaluations highlight up to an 18% drop in response correctness and a 29% decline in consistency for non-English queries, raising equity and safety concerns. To address these disparities, we developed PCP-Bot, an AI-powered chatbot for pre-visit planning that gathers patient history and concerns before the clinical encounter, then creates a concise, 300-word summary for clinical use. We evaluated its performance across English and non-English interactions using standardized simulated patient scenarios, assessing correctness, consistency, and completeness. Results will guide improvements in multilingual functionality of PCP-Bot to enhance equity, safety, and effectiveness in diverse patient populations.

Blair Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Department of Bioengineering

Name: Alex Schnurman

Current Year and Major Program: Class of 2028, Biochemistry

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Noor Momin

Project Title: Using APEX2-based proximity labeling to identify lysosome-associated proteins

Abstract: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an inherited heart disease that affects 1 in 500 people a year. RNA interference therapies, such as small interfering RNA (siRNA), could address causal gene expression, but effective delivery to cardiomyocytes remains a substantial barrier for siRNA delivery. We aim to nominate cell-surface entry points for delivering siRNA therapies to the lysosomal compartment of cardiomyocytes to maximize siRNA escape from the endolysosomal compartment. As a first step, we are developing a proximity labeling-based platform to identify lysosome-associated proteins as the first step towards nominating ideal targets for siRNA therapy. We expressed a proximity labeling enzyme tethered to the lysosomal protein to biotinylate lysosome-specific proteins. Flow cytometry demonstrated successful expression of the enzyme construct and microscopy verified expression of the construct in puncta, suggesting localization to endolysosomal compartments. We then optimized procedures to initiate proximity labeling to biotinylate nearby proteins and microscopy showed biotinylation of proteins in puncta. These results are the first step towards a lysosome-specific module that can pair with complementary techniques to identify cardiomyocyte-specific target proteins for siRNA delivery.

IGEM Fellow

Name: Yifan Zhai

Current Year and Major Program: Class of 2028, Bioengineering

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lukasz Bugaj

Project Title: Screening Synthetic Binders for EML4-ALK

Abstract: Our overall goal is to develop synthetic protein circuits that sense a cell’s oncogenic state and eliminate the cell in response. There is currently an urgent need for therapies that can: (1) sensitively distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells, (2) directly initiate cancer cell death, and (3) efficiently clear the tumor. Our approach works by first recognizing specific oncogenic proteins and subsequently executing a desired pathway of programmed cell death in response. To realize this vision, our goal for the summer was to engineer and identify protein binders that specifically localized to these target oncogenes, a critical missing link that would allow our engineered therapies to respond to the appropriate molecules. We designed and assembled multiple test constructs, introduced them into cells expressing fluorescently labeled targets, and then assessed their function using live-cell imaging and biochemical assays to evaluate binding efficiency. Through this project, I developed skills in molecular cloning, mammalian cell culture, live-cell imaging, and image analysis.

March 28, 2023

César de la Fuente Named AIMBE Fellow

by Holly Wojcik

César de la Fuente, Presidential Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, Microbiology, Bioengineering and in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been named an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow. The only faculty member inducted this year from the University of Pennsylvania, de la Fuente is one of the youngest members ever to have been selected as an AIMBE Fellow.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer, with AIMBE Fellows representing the top 2% of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”

Nominated and reviewed by peers and members of the College of Fellows, de la Fuente was elected Fellow “for the development of novel antimicrobial peptides designed using principles from computation, engineering and biology.”

A formal ceremony will be held during the AIMBE Annual Event in Arlington, Virginia on March 27, 2023, where de la Fuente will be inducted along with 140 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2023.

AIMBE Fellows are among the most distinguished medical and biological engineers, including 3 Nobel Prize laureates and 17 Fellows having received the Presidential Medal of Science and/or Technology and Innovation, along with 205 having been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, 105 into the National Academy of Medicine and 43 into the National Academy of
Sciences.

This story was originally posted in Penn Engineering Today.

Read more stories featuring César de la Fuente here.

February 13, 2023February 15, 2023

Penn Bioengineering Student is a Hertz Fellowship Finalist

Savan Patel, a fourth year Penn Bioengineering student, is one of 42 finalists competing for a 2023 Hertz Fellowship in applied science, mathematics, and engineering, one of the most prestigious Ph.D. fellowships in the United States. Chosen annually, the Hertz Fellowship is awarded to the nation’s most promising graduate students in science and technology.

From the Hertz Foundation website:

“Since 1963, the Hertz Foundation has granted fellowships empowering the nation’s most promising young minds in science and technology. Hertz Fellows receive five years of funding valued at up to $250,000, which offers flexibility from the traditional constraints of graduate training and the independence needed to pursue research that best advances our security and economic vitality […]

Over the foundation’s 60-year history of awarding fellowships, more than 1200 Hertz Fellows have established a remarkable track record of accomplishments. Their ranks include two Nobel laureates; recipients of 10 Breakthrough Prizes and three MacArthur Foundation “genius awards”; and winners of the Turing Award, the Fields Medal, the National Medal of Technology, and the National Medal of Science. In addition, 50 are members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and 34 are fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Hertz Fellows hold over 3,000 patents, have founded more than 375 companies and have created hundreds of thousands of science and technology jobs.”

Patel is studying Bioengineering and Finance in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology (M&T), an interdisciplinary dual degree program coordinated by Penn Engineering and the Wharton School of Business. He is currently a member of the lab of Michael J. Mitchell, J. Peter and Geri Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation in Bioengineering. Patel’s research interests lie at the interface of drug delivery and immunoengineering. His current project involves the use of modified cholesterol molecules to induce shifts in the biodistribution of ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Following graduation, he intends to pursue a Ph.D. in bioengineering in which hopes to develop translatable immunotherapies and drug delivery platforms.

If chosen, the Hertz Fellowship will fund Patel’s graduate studies. Selected from over 750 applicants, Patel is one of fifteen undergraduates and one of two bioengineering students to make the final round of interviews. After a culminating round of interviews, the 2023 Class of Hertz Fellows will be announced in May.

Learn more about the Hertz Fellowship and read the full list of finalists here.

December 14, 2022January 12, 2023

Ravi Radhakrishnan Named to the 2022 BMES Class of Fellows

Ravi Radhakrishnan, Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was named to the 2022 Class of Fellows of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). BMES, the premier society for biomedical engineers in the U.S., recognizes individuals for their accomplishments, significant contributions and service to the Society and the field of biomedical engineering in their annual Class of Fellows. The incoming Fellows were recognized during the BMES annual meeting on October 13, 2022.

Radhakrishnan’s research interests lie at the interface of chemical physics and molecular biology. The Radhakrishnan Lab’s goal is to provide molecular level and mechanistic characterization of biomolecular and cellular systems and formulate quantitatively accurate microscopic models for predicting the interactions of various therapeutic agents with innate biochemical signaling mechanisms. Radhakrishnan was named BE’s Department Chair in January 2020. He is also a member of the Genomics & Computational Biology (GCB) Graduate Group and is the former director of the Penn Institute for Computational Science (PICS).

Read the announcement and the full 2022 BMES Award Winners and Fellows here.

June 17, 2022July 20, 2022

Spencer Haws Receives Druckenmiller Fellowship

Spencer Haws, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the laboratory of Jennifer E. Phillips-Cremins, Associate Professor and Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Bioengineering and in Genetics, was awarded a 2022 Druckenmiller Fellowship from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute (NYSCF). This prestigious program is the largest dedicated stem cell fellowship program in the world and was developed to train and support young scientists working on groundbreaking research in the field of stem cell research. Haws is one of only five inductees into the 2022 class of fellows.

Haws earned his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences in 2021 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied metabolism-chromatin connections under the mentorship of John Denu, Professor in Biomolecular Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellow in the Cremins Laboratory for Genome Architecture and Spatial Neurobiology, Haws is using this previously developed expertise to frame his investigations into the underlying mechanisms driving the neurodegenerative disorder fragile X syndrome (FXS). “Ultimately, I hope that this work will help guide the development of future FXS-specific therapeutics of which none currently exist,” says Haws.

Read the full list of 2022 Druckenmiller Fellows and view introductory videos on the NYSCF website.

October 13, 2021October 13, 2021

Dani Bassett Elected an American Physical Society Fellow

Dani S. Bassett, J. Peter Skirkanich Professor in the departments of Bioengineering and Electrical and Systems Engineering, has been elected a 2021 Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) “for significant contributions to the network modeling of the human brain, including dynamical changes caused by evolution, learning, aging, and disease.”

The prestigious APS Fellowship Program signifies recognition by one’s professional peers. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of the APS membership is recognized with this distinct honor. Bassett’s election and groundbreaking work in biological physics and network science will be recognized through presentation of a certificate at the APS March Meeting.

Bassett is a pioneer in the field of network neuroscience, an emerging subfield which incorporates elements of mathematics, physics, biology and systems engineering to better understand how the overall shape of connections between individual neurons influences cognitive traits. They lead the Complex Systems lab which tackles problems at the intersection of science, engineering, and medicine using systems-level approaches, exploring fields such as curiosity, dynamic networks in neuroscience, and psychiatric disease.

Bassett recently collaborated with Penn artist-in-residence Rebecca Kamen and other scholars on an interdisciplinary art exhibit on the creative process in art and science at the Katzen Art Center at American University. They have also published research modeling different types of curiosity and exploring gender-based citation bias in neuroscience publishing.

“I’m thrilled and humbled to receive this honor from the American Physical Society,” says Bassett. “I am indebted to the many fantastic mentees, colleagues, and mentors that have made my time in science such an exciting adventure. Thank you.”

Read more stories about Bassett’s research here.

April 10, 2020

Danielle Bassett Named AIMBE Fellow

Danielle Bassett, J. Peter Skirkanich Professor of Bioengineering, has been named an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow.

Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education.”

Bassett was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for “significant contributions to the application of neural network theory for understanding both physio and patho-physiological brain function.”

As a result of health concerns, AIMBE’s annual meeting and induction ceremony scheduled for March 29–30, 2020, was cancelled. Under special procedures, Bassett was remotely inducted along with 156 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2020.

Originally posted on the Penn Engineering blog.

December 22, 2017December 22, 2017

CIFAR Names Kording Associate Fellow

Dr. Konrad Kording, a University of Pennsylvania PIK Professor in Bioengineering and Neuroscience, has been named an associate fellow by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), an advanced study institute headquartered in Toronto and partially funded by the government of Canada. Dr. Kording’s fellowship is in the institute’s Learning in Machines & Brains area, which has been one of CIFAR’s 14 interdisciplinary study fields since 2004. He joins 32 other fellows currently supported by the institute for their work in this area.

“The CIFAR program in Learning in Machines & Brains brings together many of the world’s leading deep learning scientists,” Dr. Kording says. “I look forward to collaborate with them to figure out how the brain learns.”

CIFAR was founded in 1982. Over the last 35 years, the institute has supported the work of scientists in 133 countries, including 18 Nobel Prize laureates.