Four bioengineers will be receiving 2022-23 UCSF Graduate Division PhD fellowships! Gauree Shriram Chendke receives the Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS), Nadia Mohammed Elmassalami Ayad the Lloyd M. Kozloff Fellowship, Caleb Tong the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation PhD Scholarship, and Diana Cruz Garcia the NIGMS Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Fellowship. Congratulations!
Three faculty receive 2022 Bakar Fellows Spark Awards
Congratulations to Grace Gu, Phillip Messersmith and Wenjun Zhang, all faculty in the Bioengineering graduate program and 2022 recipients of the Bakar Fellows Spark Award. The Spark award is designed to accelerate UC Berkeley faculty-led research and produce tangible, positive societal impact through commercialization.
Ivry elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Richard Ivry, professor of psychology and member of the bioengineering graduate program, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS). Ivry is also head of The Cognition and Action Lab and a member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. He studies cognitive neuroscience, with a focus on how people plan and execute actions and movements, and neurological disorders such as ataxia.
Landry selected for inaugural Philomathia Prize
Assistant Professor Markita del Carpio Landry of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has been named the inaugural recipient of the Philomathia Prize. The prize recognizes demonstrated excellence and future potential of a UC Berkeley faculty member’s research. Landry’s Philomathia-funded project intends to image neuropeptide signaling with near-infrared microscopy, which would enable exploring the role of these newly visible neurochemical signals in autism spectrum disorders.
Nadia Ayad wins 2022 Outstanding Student Leader award
Congratulations Nadia Ayad, inaugural recipient of the Outstanding Student Leader of the Year award from UCSF Student Life. Nadia was recognized for her work leading the student group BE-STEM, as well as her work developing initiatives to apply justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion via the GRAD 210 course, and her phenomenal commitment to leadership in […]
Sirota, Garmire, Lam elected to AIMBE Fellows
Congratulations to graduate group faculty member Marina Sirota, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF, and alumni Lana Garmire, Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, and Wilbur Lam, Professor at Georgia Tech. All were elected as 2022 members of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.
Congratulations new NSF Fellows!
Congratulations to bioengineers receiving new NSF Graduate Research Fellowships! Our winners are current PhD students Deniz Akpinaroglu, Joana Cabrera, Joy Chen, Benjamin Lesch, Alvince Pongos, Caleb Rux, Gabriel Sturm, and Jazmin Velazquez, and incoming PhD students Maple Chen, Russell Ro and Esther Sim. Great work!
Congratulations Outstanding GSIs!
Congratulations to Outstanding GSI Award Winners for 2021-22 from Berkeley BioE courses: Erin Akins, Gabriela Lomeli, Amanda Meriwether and Vivien Tran! The UC Berkeley Outstanding GSI Awards are given to the best GSIs of the year, nominated by the course instructor.
Thirteen faculty named Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigators
Congratulations to graduate program faculty members named to the second cohort of Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigators: Ed Chang, Dan Fletcher, Zev Gartner, Amy Herr, Bo Huang, Tanja Kortemme, Liana Lareau, Hao Li, Aashish Manglik, Rada Savic, Seth Shipman, Aaron Streets, and Laura Waller. Congratulations also to BioE alumnus Stanley Qi, now a professor at Stanford.
Weaver wins BMES CMBE Shu Chien Achievement Award
Congratulations to Professor Valerie Weaver, named the 2022 BMES CMBE Shu Chien Achievement Awardee. This is the most prestigious honor bestowed by the BMES Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering Special Interest Group, recognizing an individual who has made exceptional contributions to the field, including groundbreaking scientific advances, the development of support programs, mentoring and training, and the advancement of diversity and inclusivity.
Best Inventions of 2021: Huue
Congratulations BioE startup Huue and founder PhD alumna Tammy Hsu! Huue’s process for creating environmentally friendly indigo dye through synthetic biology has been named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2021.
Desai wins Chancellor’s Award for Advancement of Women
Tejal Desai, graduate program faculty member and alumna, received the 2021 UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Advancement of Women this fall for demonstrating “outstanding commitment and service to the advancement of women beyond the scope of their job, area of research, or training.” Congratulations Tejal!
Andre Lai wins MicroTAS poster award
Congratulation PhD student Andre Lai, winner of the “Outstanding Sensors and Actuators, Detection Technologies Poster Award” at the 25th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life in Palm Springs. His poster was entitled “Microfluidic Platform for Multi-Frequency Viscoelastic Phenotyping of Single Cells,” describing work done in Lydia Sohn’s lab.
Weinberger receives NIH COVID Director’s Transformative Research Award
Congratulations to UCSF Professor Leor Weinberger, a 2021 winner of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, in a special section of Emergency COVID-19 Awards Supported Through the CARES Act.
Congratulations 2022 Siebel Scholars
Five Bioengineering PhD students have been named Siebel Scholars of the class of 2022: Kristen Cotner, K.L. Barry Fung, Kazuomori Lewis, Alden Moss, and Soo Hyun Shin. The Siebel Scholars program annually recognizes top students at the world’s leading graduate schools of bioengineering, business, computer science and energy science.
Manglik named 2021 Vallee Scholar
Aashish Manglik, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Anesthesia at UCSF, has been named a 2021 Vallee Scholar. The Vallee Scholar program provide unrestricted funding for early career researchers at a critical stage in their tenure-track careers.
Kwasi Amofa named 2021 Gilliam Fellow
Congratulations to PhD student Kwasi Amofa, named to the 2021 class of Gilliam Fellows by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Fellowships are awarded to pairs of graduate students and their advisors, who are conducting outstanding research in life science fields and committed to building a more inclusive scientific ecosystem. The program includes a year of training for the advisor on effective and culturally aware mentoring, support and community for the student, and significant research funding. Professor Sanjay Kumar is Amofa’s research advisor.
Gopal named to Fellows for Ending Bioweapons
PhD student Anjali Gopal has been named to the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR) 2021-22 class of the Fellowship for Ending Bioweapons Programs. Gopal is a member of Professor Amy Herr’s lab, is actively interested in emerging technology policy, and aims to leverage her scientific training for pandemic preparedness and bioweapons prevention initiatives.
Alumna Tammy Hsu named to Tech Review 35
Tammy Hsu, founder of synthetic biology startup Huue, has been named to the MIT Technology Review 35 Under 35 list for 2021 for developing an environmentally friendly process to create indigo dye using microbes. Tammy is a 2019 PhD graduate from Professor John Dueber’s lab.
Congratulations new NSF Fellows!
Congratulations to current PhD students who have been awarded new NSF Graduate Research Fellowships: Niroshan Anandasivam, Cynthia Perez, Preethi Raghavan and Clay Smyth.
Charles Della Santina named ARO Clinical Innovator
Charles Della Santina, PhD alumnus 1989, will receive the 2021 Association for Research in Otolaryngology Innovator Award in Clinical Science. Now a professor at Johns Hopkins University, he was recognized for his development of the vestibular prosthesis (vestibular implant), through a remarkable combination of basic, clinical and engineering research.
Nicolas Altemose receives HHMI Hanna Gray Fellowship
PhD candidate Nicolas Altemose, of Professor Aaron Streets’ lab, has been named a Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This prestigious fellowship grants eight full years of funding for exceptional early career scientists. Gray Fellows have the freedom to change their research focus and follow their curiosity for the duration of the award. Nicolas will begin his postdoctoral work with new mentor Gary Karpen, PhD, also at UC Berkeley, this summer.
Congratulations to six new AIMBE Fellows
Congratulations to graduate group faculty Tamara Alliston, Grace O’Connell, Laura Waller, and Duan Xu, and to BioE PhD alumnae Karen Cheung, now a professor at the University of British Columbia, and Amina Qutub, now a professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio! All are new members of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows.
Peng and Rosenbluth named to 40 Under 40
PhD alumni Lily Peng (2012) and Kate Rosenbluth (2009) have been named to the 2020 Fortune Magazine “40 Under 40”, an annual list of 40 young professionals of exceptional talent and influence in their fields. Peng, now Product Manager at Google Health, aims to bring health care to the masses through the use of artificial intelligence. She has personally designed algorithms including the firm’s diabetes-related eye disease detection program. Rosenbluth, Founder and CEO of Cala Health, has designed an FDA-cleared wrist device that eases hand tremors for the 7 million Americans who suffer from essential tremors.