Graduate Student Awards & Fellowships

The Carter fellowship honors the late Herbert E. Carter, a University of Illinois alumnus (PhD, ’34, chemistry) and faculty member who was hailed as the “Father of Sphingolipids.” He served as head of the Department of Chemistry, director of the School of Chemical Sciences, and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Professor Carter’s pioneering work determined the structure of sphingosine, from which he coined the term “sphingolipids” to encompass the family of cerebrosides, sphingomyelins, and gangliosides that are associated with the brain and nervous system. He also made significant contributions to the structural knowledge of glycolipids and antibiotics. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1953.

2023 Recipient:
Junyao Zhu (Dr. David Shapiro)

2022 Recipient:
Yanheng Chen (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen)

2021 Recipient:
Darjan Duraki (Dr. David Shapiro)

2020 Recipient:
Ullas Valiya Chembazhi (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

The late Lowell P. Hager received his PhD from the University of Illinois and was eventually recruited back to his alma mater, where he rose through the professorial ranks in the Department of Biochemistry. He served as head from 1969 to 1988, building a strong tradition of scientific excellence and collegiality in the department. His research program contributed immensely to the fields of biochemistry and biophysics, particularly in the area of metallo- and hemeproteins. He discovered the halogenating enzyme, chloroperoxidase. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1995. The Hager Fellowship provides support for biochemistry PhD students who demonstrate exceptional achievement, independence in research, and originality of thought.

2021 Recipient:
Sonya Kumar Barathkar (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller)

The Charles F. Kade Fellowship is named after the late University of Illinois alumnus Charles Kade, who received a PhD in biochemistry in 1941. He was a research chemist who ultimately became a vice president of Johnson & Johnson.

2025 Recipient:
Diptatanu Das (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

2022 Recipient:
Kritika Mehta (Dr. Kai Zhang)

2021 Recipient:
Huaxun Fan (Dr. Kai Zhang)

2020 Recipient:
Zhenglin Yang (Dr. Yi Lu)

Established by a former student of Professor Emeritus Robert Switzer, this award recognizes graduate student teaching assistants and faculty who have devoted themselves to delivering a high-quality education in the Department of Biochemistry. Throughout the course of his 40-year career at the university, Professor Switzer’s research focused on the regulation of bacterial metabolism by allosteric enzymes, the control of enzyme degradation and novel mechanisms for the regulation of gene expression, with an emphasis on transcriptional attenuation. A dedicated educator, he also co-authored the textbook, Experimental Biochemistry.

2024 Recipient:
Owen Ouyang

2023 Recipients:
Kaylee Kuzelka, Kritika Mehta, Rebecca Schneider

2022 Recipients:
Arpita Chakravarti, Chris Hawk, Andrea Hernandez Garcia, Iris Lyu, Rachel Martini,  Kritika Mehta, Gilberto Padron, Adrika Raybarman

2021 Recipients:
Santanu Ghosh, Isaac Kim, Nikita Modi

2020 Recipients:
Dustin Buntrock, Mashiat Chowdhury, Xingchen Dong, Logan Hurst, Payel Mondal

2019 Recipients:
John Khamo (Dr. Kai Zhang), Savanna Sharum (Dr. Kai Zhang)

Keith R. Westcott received his BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and his MS (1978) and PhD (1980) in biochemistry from the University of Illinois. At Amgen, a California biotechnology company, he was a protein chemistry scientist. He conducted protein science research supporting Amgen’s programs in wound healing, hematopoiesis, cancer and neuroscience. A longtime supporter of the university, he has received the University of Illinois Alumni Association’s Loyalty Award (2013) and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Distinguished Service Award (2010).

2025 Recipient:
Jorge Calderin (Dr. Rudy Fratti)

2023 Recipient:
Rebecca Tang (Dr. Raven Huang)

2022 Recipient:
Andrea Hernandez Garcia (Dr. Satish Nair)

2021 Recipients:

2021 continuing student recipient: Christine Devlin (Dr. Erik Procko)
2020-2021 academic year, first year recipient: Kaylee Kuzelka (Dr. Satish Nair)

2020 Recipients:
Krishna Narayanan (Dr. Erik Procko), John Przybyła (Dr. Scott Silverman), Imran Rahman (Dr. Wilfred van der Donk), Brady Wells (Dr. Yi Lu)

2019 Recipients:
Dylan Blaha (Dr. David Kranz), Christine Devlin (Dr. Erik Procko), Savanna Sharum (Dr. Kai Zhang)

The Anne A. Johnson Work Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, created in 1987, was established for students who have demonstrated outstanding scholastic excellence in graduate studies.

2023 Recipient:
Arpita Chakravati (Dr. Raven Huang)

2022 Recipient:
Chayanid (Ing) Ongpipattanakul (Dr. Satish Nair)

2021 Recipient:
Surbhi Jain (Dr. Huimin Zhao)

2020 Recipient:
Katrina Diaz Muraglia, PhD (Dr. Martin Burke)

2019 Recipient:
Nektaria Petronikolou (Dr. Satish Nair)

From helping bring a powerful, first-in-class HIV treatment to market to his most recent position as the CEO and co-owner of a preclinical contract research organization, Michael Recny (PhD, biochemistry, ’83) has paved a successful career path in the biotechnology industry, a field that was just emerging at the time he graduated from the University of Illinois. In 2018, he made an estate commitment to establish the Dr. Michael A. Recny Graduate Fellowship in Biochemistry. In 2021, he generously pledged outright support to fund the fellowship for five years.

2025 Recipient:
Terry Gao (Dr. Raven Huang)

2023 Recipient:
Heather Liu (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller)

2022 Recipient:
Santanu Ghosh (Dr. David Shapiro)

This award recognizes biochemistry and biophysics graduate students who have produced outstanding research papers. The award is named after the late professor Colin Wraight, a passionate teacher, mentor, and colleague. He employed biochemical and biophysical methods to understand how the structure of membrane proteins allowed them to catalyze the transfer of electrons and protons in biological energy conversion. He joined the Illinois faculty in 1975 and held several positions, including director of the Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology and head of the Department of Biochemistry from 2004 to 2009.

2023 Recipient:
Santanu Ghosh (Dr. David Shapiro)

2022 Recipient:
Page Daniels (Dr. Wilfred van der Donk)

2021 Recipient:
Ullas Valiya Chembazhi (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

2020 Recipient:
Waqar Arif, MD (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra), Sushant Bangru (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

2019 Recipient:
Mara Livezey (Dr. David Shapiro)

This award is named after William Jackson, an Illinois graduate (BS, ’55, chemistry) and his wife, Lynn Jackson. William Jackson, who received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin after graduating from Illinois, retired from Eli Lilly in 1998 after a career as an immunologist.

2022 Recipient:
Wenhao Ouyang (Dr. Nicholas Wu)

In recognition of a graduate biochemistry student who has demonstrated excellence in their graduate studies and research.

2023 Recipient:
Ullas Valiya Chembazi (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

2022 Recipient:
Imran Rahman (Dr. Wilfred van der Donk)

2021 Recipient:
Waqar Arif (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

2020 Recipient:
Liqun Yu, PhD (Dr. David Shapiro)

2019 Recipient:
Amruta Bhate (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra)

This award, for outstanding graduate students, is named after Govindjee, a professor emeritus of biochemistry, biophysics and plant biology at the University of Illinois, and Rajni Govindjee, both of whom studied with the founding fathers of photosynthesis research. Govindjee conducted seminal research on the mechanisms of Photosystem II and chlorophyll fluorescence by plants and on the history of photosynthesis research. Rajni Govindjee made fundamental discoveries on the two-light effect and two-pigment system in the Hill Reaction in chloroplasts and then on the molecular mechanism of proton transport in bacteriorhodopsin from Halobacterium halobium, using site-directed mutants.

2025 Recipient:
Akshita Gopal (Dr. Nicholas Wu)

2022 Recipient:
Adrika Raybarman (Dr. Raven Huang)

2018 Recipient:
Logan Hurst (Dr. Rudy Fratti)

Spring 2025 Recipients:
Anu Sharma (Dr. Joe Sanfilippo), Alex Shuppara (Dr. Joe Sanfilippo), Yujia Ji (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller)

Fall 2024 Recipients:
Andrew Briercheck (Dr. Yan Zhang), Hao Fan (Dr. Yan Zhang), Musarrat Jabeen (Dr. David Shapiro), Rebecca Tang (Dr. Raven Huang), Chi Zhang (Dr. Rudy Fratti)

Spring 2024 Recipients:
Gilberto Padron (Sanfilippo lab), Jessica Palalay (Sanfilippo lab), Matt Sinclair (Tajkhorshid lab), Junyao Zhu (Shapiro lab)

Fall 2023 Recipients:
Jorge  Calderin (Fratti lab), Tianle Chen (Tajkhorshid lab), Chi Zhang (Fratti lab)

Spring 2023 Recipients:
Janhavi Borkar (Dr. Satish Nair), Sonya Kumar Bharathkar (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller), Kaylee Kuzelka (Dr. Satish Nair), Heather Liu (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller), Iris Lyu (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller), Nikita Modi (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen), Subhashis Natua (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra), Owen Ouyang (Dr. Nicholas Wu), Jessica Palalay (Dr. Joe Sanfilippo), Anuradha Sharma (Dr. Joe Sanfilippo), Alex Shuppara (Dr. Joe Sanfilippo), Junyao Zhu (Dr. David Shapiro)

Fall 2022 Recipients:
Andres Arango (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Ullas Valiya Chembazhi (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra), Tianle Chen (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Carlos R. Cuellar Rodriguez (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Santana Ghosh (Dr. David Shapiro), Hale Hasdemir (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Lainey Liang (Dr. Wilfred van der Donk), Yuping Li (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), TJ Oh (Dr. Kai Zhang), Defne Görgün Ozgulbas (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Hyun Park (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Ali Rasouli (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Eric Shine (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Matt Sinclair (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Shweta Shree (Dr. Stephen Sligar), Noah Trebesch (Dr. Emad Tajkhorshid), Chi Zhang (Dr. Rutilio "Rudy" Fratti)

2025 Recipient:
Katherine Richter (Dr. Kai Zhang and Dr. Taras Pogorelov)

2025 Recipient:
Anu Sharma (Dr. Joe Sanfilippo) 

2025 Recipient:
Xiniyi Dai (Dr. David Shapiro) 

2024 Recipient: 
Allison Boss-Kennedy (Dr. Jie Chen)

2022 Recipient:
Allison Boss-Kennedy (Dr. Jie Chen)

2021 Recipient:
Surabhi Sonam (Dr. Jon Henry)

2020 Recipient:
Surabhi Sonam (Dr. Jon Henry)

2019 Recipient:
Nayab Abidi

Tom Cycyota (BS, ’80, biology), is president and CEO of AlloSource, which preserves human tissue from generous donors to create transplantable allografts (human-to-human transplants). Under his leadership, AlloSource has become one of the largest and most respected tissue banks in the country. In addition to his Illinois degree, he has an MBA from Loyola University. In 2015, the College of LAS presented him with its Alumni Humanitarian Award. Cyndy Cycyota is a professor of management at the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds three degrees in business: a BS, MBA, and PhD. Prior to academia, she was a manager for two international accounting firms and a bank.

2024 Recipient:
Pallob Barai (Dr. Jie Chen)

2023 Recipient:
Aatiqa Nawaz (Dr. Stephanie Ceman)

2022 Recipients:
Neha Chivukula (Dr. Andrew Belmont)

2021 Recipients:
Janhavi Kolhe (Dr. Brian Freeman)

2020 Recipient:
Surabhi Sonam (Dr. Jon Henry)

Tom Cycyota (BS, ’80, biology), is president and CEO of AlloSource, which preserves human tissue from generous donors to create transplantable allografts (human-to-human transplants). Under his leadership, AlloSource has become one of the largest and most respected tissue banks in the country. In addition to his Illinois degree, he has an MBA from Loyola University. In 2015, the College of LAS presented him with its Alumni Humanitarian Award. Cyndy Cycyota is a professor of management at the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds three degrees in business: a BS, MBA, and PhD. Prior to academia, she was a manager for two international accounting firms and a bank.

2019 Recipient:
Yo-Chuen Lin (Dr. Supriya Prasanth)

Named in honor of Tunji Toogun, a cell and developmental biology PhD student who passed away in 2007, this award recognizes CDB graduate students for their outstanding research accomplishments. Born in Nigeria, Toogun received his BS from the University of Illinois in 2001 and a posthumous PhD in 2007. Remembered as a bright and kind student, Toogun had boundless enthusiasm for research and learning. Friends, classmates, and faculty established the fund to honor his memory.

2024 Recipient:
Hailun Zhu (Dr. Xin Li)

2022 Recipients:
Qinyu Hao (Dr. Kannanganattu Prasanth)

2021 Recipients:
Xiaohe (John) Li (Dr. William Brieher), Yo-Chuen Lin (Dr. Supriya Prasanth)

2021 Recipients:
Omid Gholamalamdari (Dr. Andrew Belmont)

2020 Recipient:
Phillip Kenny (Dr. Stephanie Ceman)

2019 Recipient:
Mahdieh Jadaliha (Dr. KV Prasanth)

This award is given to graduate students who deliver an oral presentation about their research at a national or international meeting.

2023 Recipients:
Allison Boss-Kennedy (Dr. Jie Chen), Pradeep Kumar (Dr. Andrew Belmont), Minxue Liu (Dr. Kannanganattu Prasanth), Tejas Mahadevan (Dr. Anna Sokac), Miles Norsworthy (Dr. Martha Gillette)

2022 Recipients:
Pradeep Kumar (Dr. Andrew Belmont)

2020 Recipient:
Chong Dai (Dr. Jie Chen), Janhavi Kohle (Dr. Brian Freeman), Yo-Chuen Lin (Dr. Supriya Prasanth), Nilmani Singh (Dr. Jie Chen), Yuou Wang (Dr. William Brieher), Liguo Zhang (Dr. Andrew Belmont)

2019 Recipient:
Chih-Ying Chen (Dr. Lisa Stubbs), Nimani Singh (Dr. Jie Chen), Liquo Zhang (Dr. Andrew Belmont)

This scholarship is named after the late Illinois alumnus James Beck (PhD, ’61, chemistry), who was a researcher at Eli Lilly. He conducted research in synthetic organic chemistry related to herbicides, plant growth regulators, and chemical hybridizing agents.

2025 Recipients:
Gracious Donkor (Dr. James Slauch), Will Wightkin (Dr. Steven Blanke) 

2024 Recipients:
Brooke Burris (Dr. James Slauch), Morgan Letzkus (Dr. Paola Mera), Megan Ringling (Dr. Steven Blanke)

2021 Recipient:
Rouhallah Ramezanifard (Dr. James Slauch)

The Professor Marie Chow Teaching Scholarship is named after Marie Chow, who completed her undergraduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral studies at Smith College, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. She was a professor at MIT, followed by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

2025 Recipient:
Jessica Hertig (Dr. James Imlay)

2024 Recipient:
Motaher Hossain (Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan)

2022 Recipients:
Sabrina Abdulla, Alexander Polidore

2021 Recipients:
Stefanie Eben (Dr. James Imlay), Katie Frye (Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie), Ami Seeger (Dr. Steven Blanke)

The Clark Scholarship honors Dr. Francis M. Clark and his wife, Harlie M. Clark. Francis Clark joined the Department of Bacteriology, later the Department of Microbiology, as an instructor in 1933, after having completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Illinois. He had a distinguished career, teaching microbiology and conducting research in the microbiology of foods. He also was past president of the Illinois Society for Microbiology.

2025 Recipients:
Morgan Letzkus (Dr. Paola Mera), Elizabeth Thayer (Dr. Christopher Brooke)

2024 Recipient:
Matthew Georgiou

2023 Recipient:
Sneha Das

2022 Recipient:
Nicholas Handy, Roy Rodriguez Carrero

2021 Recipient:
Molly Crowder, Eliot Joya Sandoval, Rouhallah Ramezanifard

2021 Recipient:
Matthew Georgiou

2019 Recipient:
Alisa King

The Clark Fellowship honors Dr. Francis M. Clark and his wife, Harlie M. Clark. Francis Clark joined the Department of Bacteriology, later the Department of Microbiology, as an instructor in 1933, after having completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Illinois. He had a distinguished career, teaching microbiology and conducting research in the microbiology of foods. He also was past president of the Illinois Society for Microbiology.

2022 Recipients:
Sabrina Abdulla (Dr. Carin Vanderpool) , Pooja Agashe (Dr. Andrei Kuzminov), Molly Crowder (Dr. Steven Blanke)

2019 Recipients:
Katie Frye (Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie), Anshika Gupta (Dr. James Imlay), Sangeetha Ramesh (Dr. Douglas Mitchell)

Established in 1994, this award is named for the late Chinoree “Ben” Enta and his wife, Kimiyo Enta. Ben Enta earned a BS in chemistry and bacteriology in 1951 from Illinois and spent much of his career as a chemist for the City of Chicago’s water department. Kimiyo worked in insurance, was a professional dancer, and taught Japanese folk dancing.

2023 Recipient:
Accomplishment: Molly Crowder (Dr. Steven Blanke)
Excellence: Megan Ringling (Dr. Steven Blanke)

2022 Recipients:
Lucy Chou Zheng (Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan), Alexander Polidore (Dr. James Imlay)

2021 Recipient:
Yidan Zhou (Dr. James Imlay)

2021 Recipient:
Paola Párraga Solórzano (Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie)

2019 Recipient:
Maryam Khademiam (Dr. James Imlay)

This scholarship is named after Illinois alumni Chester W. Houston (PhD, ’47, microbiology), who was a microbiology professor at the University of Rhode Island, and Nadine C. Houston (BS, ’43, library science; MS, ’46, microbiology), a librarian.

2023 Recipients:
Stephanie Puentes (Dr. Paola Mera), Caroline Vermilya (Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie)

2022 Recipient:
Saika Hossain (Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie)

2021 Recipient:
Matthew Georgiou (Dr. Douglas Mitchell)

The Mame Shiao Debbie Endowment in Microbiology Award is a gift from Jane Lin, a 1986 PhD graduate in microbiology. She met her husband, filmmaker Ang Lee, while they were students at UIUC. After graduating with a theatre degree from Illinois, Lee pursued his MFA at New York University while she completed her graduate studies at Illinois.

2025 Recipients:
Gracious Donkor (Dr. James Slauch), Brooke Ebner (Dr. James Slauch)

2021 Recipient:
S. M. Nayeemul Bari (Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan)

2020 Recipient:
Elizabeth Rowland (Dr. Rachel Whitaker)

2019 Recipient:
Elizabeth Haywood (Dr. Brenda Wilson), Kyungsub Kim (Dr. James Slauch), Elizabeth Rowland (Dr. Rachel Whitaker)

Named after Illinois alumnus Carl J. DeBoer, this fellowship is awarded to graduate students in the department, in particular those who conduct research in infectious diseases and immunology. DeBoer received his BS in 1935 and his PhD in 1941 and joined the faculty at the Massachusetts State College (now the University of Massachusetts). He later worked at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.

2020 Recipient:
Kristen Farley (Dr. William Metcalf)

2019 Recipient:
Kyle Grim (Dr. Thomas Kehl-Fie), Jiai Sun (Dr. Christopher Brooke)

The Professor Marie Chow Fellowship for Accomplishment is named after Marie Chow, who completed her undergraduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral studies at Smith College, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. She was a professor at MIT, followed by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

2024  Recipient:
Motaher Hossain (Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan)

2023 Recipient:
Tongyu Liu (Dr. Christopher Brooke)

2025 Recipient:
Ezza Khan (Dr. Paola Mera)

2025 Recipient:
Patricia Adeyemo (Dr. Nkrumah Grant)

2025 Recipient:
Megan Ringling (Dr. Steven Blanke)     

Presented to a graduate student whose thesis is judged to be particularly meritorious, particularly if the results have been published.

2025 Recipient:
Jacob Beal (Dr. Milan Bagchi)

2024 Recipient:
Anushna Sen (Dr. Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk)

2023 Recipient:
Xiyu Ge (Dr. Lori Raetzman)

2022 Recipient:
Liqian Ma (Dr. Erik Nelson)

2021 Recipient:
Jiaren Zhang (Dr. Hee Jung Chung)

2020 Recipient:
Jiuhe (Rosa) Zhu (Dr. Nien-Pei Tsai)

2019 Recipient:
Whitney Edwards (Dr. Lori Raetzman)

This award is named after James Heath, a former faculty member who researched temperature adaptation and neural physiology of animals. He was head of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics from 1977 to 1982. In recognition of those who have made exceptional contributions in instruction.

2023 Recipient:
Anjana Asokakumar

2021 Recipient:
Daphne Eagleman

2019 Recipient:
Ekaterina Gribkova

Presented to a graduate student who has made outstanding contributions to departmental activities outside the academic arena.

2025 Recipient:
Anjana Asokakumar (Dr. Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk)

2024 Recipient:
Ingrid Possa Paranhos (Dr. Patrick Sweeney)

2019 Recipient:
Jessica Saw (Drs. Jonathan Sweedler, Bruce Fouke)

Prof. Ann Nardulli, an endocrinologist and cherished MIP faculty member, passed away on June 27, 2018. To honor Ann’s legacy, the Molecular and Integrative Physiology Department established the Ann Nardulli Graduate Student Travel Award. Graduate education was very important to Ann. This fund provides graduate students with support to enhance their education, such as travel support to present and discuss their research findings at scientific meetings.

2025 Recipient:
Tanya Pattnaik (Dr. Patrick Sweeney)

2024 Recipients:
Nicole Godellas (Dr. Claudio Grosman), Quang Nguyen (Dr. Martha Gillette)

2023 Recipients:
Anasuya Das Gupta (Dr. Erik Nelson), Amber Wang (Dr. Erik Nelson)