4-6 p.m. May 7, 2026
Welcome
Dr. Milan Bagchi, Deborah Paul Professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology and Director, School of MCB
Dr. Shawna Naidu, Assistant Director for Advising and Recruitment, School of MCB
Presentation of Awards
Dr. Shawna Naidu, School of Molecular & Cellular Biology
Dr. Kai Zhang, Department of Biochemistry
Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology
Dr. Steven Blanke, Department of Microbiology
Dr. Claudio Grosman, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology
Reception
Please join us for appetizers and drinks immediately following ceremony.
School of MCB Awards
*Denotes Fall 2025 graduates
Students Graduating with a Major in MCB Honors
Krisha Agarwal
Marco Atallah
Emma Borrowman
Hayley Bossard
Gabriella (Ella) Buchanan
Shelby Bushong
Divya Choudhary
Luke Crimmins
Spyridon Economos*
Maher Fatima
Faaris Hanif
Qaasim Jatoi
Sohan Joshi
Leo Kaempfe
Sanjana Kamble
Mackenzie Klein
Eva Konsur
Ximena Luna
Kaela Maghinang*
Ryan Marsh
Hannah McGee
Mia Mercado
Sam Najjar
Kush Nandani*
Gabrielle (Gabby) Nathan
Hetvi Patel
Anika Roy
Kush Sarin*
Logan Silzer
Akhil Vytla
Nathan Yuan*
Oliver J. Bell Merit Scholarship in MCB Honors
Owen Rusche
Subbalakshmi and Prasad Rao Pandravada Merit Scholarship
Robert Kemp
Academic Distinction
Tameem Abou-Chakra
Krisha Agarwal
Siyoung Ahn
Ali Alhaj
Abhinav Bachu
Devan Bianchini
Emma Borrowman
Shelby Bushong
Richard Chavez
Sania Chisnell
Divya Choudhary
Luke Crimmins
Julia Drake
Jiaxuan (Michael) Duan
Spyridon Economos*
Anaiz Espinoza
Cyrus Fallah
Eric Fan
Maher Fatima
Colin Glick
Madison Graham
William Green
Andrew Hamilton
Faaris Hanif
Amruta Hegde*
John Inoue
Advaita Jain
Raymond Jones
Sohan Joshi
Katherine Karecki
Joel Kattoor
Claire Kesslering*
Jackson Kohls
Jason Kowalewski
Alex Kreiner
Cherin Kukkapalli
Emily Lanman*
Regina Lapitsky
Nayanika Madhav
Kaela Maghinang*
Manaswini Mannam
Ryan Marsh
Hannah McGee
Mia Mercado
Iman Mohajir
Regan Moody
Pavan Sriram Mudrageda*
Yelim Na
John Naom*
Jonathan Nguyen
Ada Okolo
Justus Omowumi
Rhea Chintanbhai Parekh
Anu Patel*
Abigail Perryman
Johnathan Plonsker*
Ruchi Prakash
Sergio Raad
Nicholas Rohlwing*
Lilah Ranz
Chelsea Roman
Anika Roy
Dominika Sarna
Arushi Sharma
Devanshi Shukla
Yasmine Sidavi
Logan Silzer
Jacob Stoelinga
Meher Swamy
Joseph Thalackan
Akhil Vytla
Zoe Wang
Karen Xiong
Shuyun (Joey) Xu
Nathan Yuan*
Jason Yung*
Joy Zhao*
Qingyin (Alison) Zheng
Moyan Zhu
Highest Distinction for Excellence in Research
Krisha Agarwal (Kannanganattu V. Prasanth Lab)
Devan Bianchini (Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton Lab)
Divya Choudhary (Dr. Kevin VanBortle Lab)
Maher Fatima (Dr. Christopher Brooke Lab)
Madison Graham (Dr. Howard Gritton Lab)
Andrew Hamilton (Dr/ Jonathan Sweedler Lab)
Faaris Hanif (Dr. Marni Boppart Lab)
Katherine Karecki (Dr. Brendan Harley Lab)
Jackson Kohls (Dr. Sayeepriyadarshini Anakk Lab)
Peter Kubakh* (Dr. Chang Cui Lab)
Kaela Maghinang* (Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton Lab)
Iman Mohajir (Dr. Supriya Prasanth Lab)
Abigail Perryman (Dr. Milan Bagchi Lab)
Johnathan Plonsker* (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Ruchi Prakash (Dr. Boxuan Zhao Lab)
Noa Rimer* (Dr. Ayelet Ziv-Gal Lab)
Chelsea Roman (Dr. Caterina Gratton Lab)
Diya Shah (Dr. Hannah Holscher Lab)
Devanshi Shukla (Dr. Makoto Inoue Lab)
Logan Silzer (Dr. Hee Jung Chung Lab)
Joseph Thalackan (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Corey Trela (Dr. Paola Mera Lab)
High Distinction for Excellence in Research
Younan Adam (Dr. Michael Spinella Lab)
Siyoung Ahn (Dr. Uwe Rudolph Lab)
Gabriella Buchanan (Dr. Mary Schuler Lab)
Alexander Byrne (Dr. Adrienne Antonson Lab)
Shiqi (Katherina) Cheng (Dr. Donald Ort Lab)
Sara Georges (Dr. Zeynep Madak-Erdogan Lab)
Rachel Huezo (Dr. Makoto Inoue Lab)
Raymond Jones (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Sanjana Jose (Dr. Rachel Whitaker Lab)
Leo Kaempfe (Dr. Paola Mera Lab)
Jason Kowalewski (Dr. Martha Gillette Lab)
Simon Kruczak (Dr/ Paola Mera Lab)
Catherine Marquez (Dr. Alison Bell Lab)
Hannah McGee (Dr. Zeynep Madak-Erdogan Lab)
Kush Nandani* (Dr. Daniel Llano Lab)
Allyson Powell* (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen Lab)
Anika Roy (Dr. Huanyu Qiao Lab)
Mohammad Safi (Dr. Keith Jarosinski Lab)
Karla Ybanez (Dr. Paola Mera Lab)
Distinction for Excellence in Research
Marco Atallah (Dr. Hannah Holscher Lab)
Hayley Bossard (Dr. Lori Raetzman Lab)
Seunghee (Judy) Choi* (Dr. Jing Yang Lab)
Abraham Deffala (Dr. Steve Maren Lab)
Devina Joshi (Dr. Indrani Bagchi Lab)
Mackenzie Klein (Dr. Ayelet Ziv-Gal Lab)
Marko Ortiz (Dr. Samy Meroueh Lab)
Shivam Patel (Dr. Hannah Holscher Lab)
Nicholas Rohlwing* (Dr. Eric Oldfield Lab)
Anushka Singh* (Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton Lab)
Qingyin (Alison) Zheng (Dr. Patrick Sweeney Lab)
2025-2026 BEST Scholars
Diya Brahmbhatt
Isaac Cherchi
Medha Dendukuri
Nathan Joseph
Rida Majeed
Ramya Sree Payaniappa
Rene Pederson
Priya Rajput
School of MCB Research Symposium Awards
Director’s Award for Exceptional Research Presentation
Anne-Louise Anstey (Dr. Rachel Whitaker Lab)
Devina Joshi (Dr. Indrani Bagchi Lab)
Karla Ybanez (Dr. Paola Mera Lab)
Outstanding Research Presentation Award
Simon Kruczak (Dr. Paola Mera Lab)
Vraj Patel (Dr. Patrick Sweeney Lab)
Benjamin Wang (Dr. Patrick Sweeney Lab)
Research Presentation Honorable Mention Award
Anuprova Bhowmik (Dr. Auinash Kasotra Lab)
Hayley Bossard (Dr. Lori Raetzman Lab)
Murad Khamis (Dr. Auinash Kasotra Lab)
Marko Ortiz (Dr. Samy Meroueh Lab)
Berkowitz Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Anuprova Bhowmik (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra Lab)
Carrol Foxall Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Natalie Nusgart (Dr. Diana Ranoa Lab)
Jenner Family Research Fellowship
Lola Bahrs (Dr. Martin Burke Lab)
Tuscany Bordignon (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra Lab)
Caroline Hartmann (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen)
Robert Kemp (Dr. Mary Schuler Lab)
Swetha Krishnamoorthy (Dr. Catherine Christian-Hinman Lab)
McLeod-Delcomyn Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Renee Choe (Dr. Patrick Sweeney Lab)
Spudich Summer Research Fellowship
Sarah Lee (Dr. Hee Jung Chung Lab)
School of MCB SURF sponsored in part by Dr. Keith Westcott
Sophia HE (Dr. Howard Gritton Lab)
School of MCB Summer Research Fellowship
Mesoma Akpuokwe (Dr. Daniel Llano Lab)
Shriyadita Bhilkar (Dr. Huanyu Qiao Lab)
Esther Chang (Dr. Scott Silverman Lab)
Ryan Chen (Dr. Nicholas Wu Lab)
Mia Fethiere (Dr. William Brieher Lab)
Kendall Fox (Dr. Sayee Anakk)
Donghao Guo (Dr. Kai Zhang Lab)
Samuel Hatlestad (Dr. Jing Yang Lab)
Jessica Huang (Dr. Nicholas Wu Lab)
Laura Kim (Dr. Mary Schuler Lab)
Dayun (Day) Lee (Dr. Huimin Zhao Lab)
Anna Lehmann (Dr. Alison Bell Lab)
Kayall Manivasagam (Dr. Sayee Anakk Lab)
Anna Milewski (Dr. Howard Gritton Lab)
Claire Moon (Dr. Claudio Grosman Lab)
Vraj Patel (Dr. Patrick Sweeney Lab)
Deyaba Rathod (Dr. Kevin Van Bortle Lab)
Ved Shah (Dr. Rutilio Fratti Lab)
Amber Smith (Dr. Catherine Christian-Hinman Lab)
Maya Strong (Dr. Dan Llano Lab)
Meixuan Tong (Dr. Nicholas Wu Lab)
Nandana Varma (Dr. Supriya Prasanth Lab)
Department of Biochemistry
Highest Distinction
Hammed Adeoye (Dr. Liviu Mirica Lab)
Rainiel Bartolome (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller Lab)
Jenna Chen (Dr. Isaac Cann Lab)
James Choi (Dr. Yan Zhang Lab)
Daniel Grudzien (Dr. Rudy Fratti Lab)
Madihah Kader Yousuff (Dr. Brendan Harley Lab)
Peter Kubakh* (Dr. Chang Cui Lab)
Adam Lenczowski (Dr. Erik Nelson Lab)
Yash Nelavelli (Dr. Jonathan Sweedler Lab)
Kristina Petkovic (Dr. Chang Cui Lab)
Noa Rimer* (Dr. Ayelet Ziv-Gal Lab)
Arnab Roy (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra Lab)
Julienne Sanchez (Dr. Carin Vanderpool Lab)
Jiyoung Seo (Dr. Erik Nelson Lab)
Swetha Subramanian (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra Lab)
Aliasgar Topiwalla (Dr. Rudy Fratti Lab)
Qinyue (Diana) Xie (Dr. Yan Zhang Lab)
Evan Zakharchenko (Dr. Huanyu Qiao Lab)
High Distinction
Erin Davy (Dr. Jonathan Sweedler Lab)
Jisoo Kang (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen Lab)
Jahnavi Menon Karat (Dr. Rudy Fratti Lab)
Murad Khamis (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra Lab)
Lindsay Marion (Dr. Chang Cui Lab)
Kaitlyn Morrissey (Dr. William Brieher Lab)
Allyson Powell* (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen Lab)
Nayana Ramesh (Dr. Catherine Christian-Hinman Lab)
Distinction
Madeline Beck (Dr. Angad Mehta Lab)
Mahum Rauf (Dr. Benjamin Auerbach Lab)
Excellence in Biochemistry Research Award
Erin Davy (Dr. Jonathan Sweedler Lab)
Jisoo Kang (Dr. Lin-Feng Chen Lab)
James Choi (Dr. Yan Zhang Lab)
Madihah Kader Yousuff (Dr. Brendan Harley Lab)
Jiyoung Seo (Dr. Erik Nelson Lab)
William T. and Lynn Jackson Senior Merit Award
Rainiel Bartolome (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller Lab)
Kristina Petkovic (Dr. Chang Cui Lab)
Swetha Subramanian (Dr. Auinash Kalsotra Lab)
Aliasgar Topiwalla (Dr. Rudy Fratti Lab)
William T. and Lynn Jackson Senior “Best Thesis” Award
Qinyue (Diana) Xie (Dr. Yan Zhang Lab)
Outstanding Student Award
Evan Zakharchenko (Dr. Huanyu Qiao Lab)
Michael Glaser Undergraduate Service Award
Eva Sadowski (Dr. Anna Sokac Lab)
Biochemistry Summer Research Scholarship
Ekaterina Flaugher (Dr. Beth Stadtmueller Lab)
Elizabeth Murawski (Dr. Catherine Christian-Hinman Lab)
H. Edward Conrad Summer Research Fellowship
Brisa Sun (Dr. David Shapiro Lab)
William T. and Lynn Jackson Summer Research Fellowship
Clare Donahue (Dr. Samy Meroueh Lab)
Vidhi Patel (Dr. Huanyu Qiao Lab)
Stephen G. Sligar Scholarship
Krish Patel (Dr. Rudy Fratti Lab)
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology
Tom and Cynthia Cycyota Research Scholarship
Michelle Seby (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Roderick MacLeod Award for Academic Excellence
Devan Bianchini (Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton Lab)
Iman Mohajir (Dr. Supriya Prasanth Lab)
Joseph Thalackan (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Achievement Award
Xinyue (April) Meng (Dr. Boxuan Zhao Lab)
Iman Mohajir (Dr. Supriya Prasanth Lab)
Johnathan Plonsker (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Undergraduate Research Achievement Award
Krisha Agarwal (Dr. Kannanganattu V. Prasanth Lab)
Devan Bianchini (Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton Lab)
Gabriella Buchanan (Dr. Mary Schuler Lab)
Divya Choudhary (Dr. Kevin Van Bortle Lab)
Raymond Jones (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Jason Kowalewski (Dr. Martha Gillette Lab)
Kaela Maghinang (Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton Lab)
Kaitlyn Morrissey (Dr. Bill Brieher Lab)
Ruchi Prakash (Dr. Boxuan Zhao Lab)
Joseph Thalackan (Dr. Xin Li Lab)
Department of Microbiology
Francis M. and Harlie M. Clark Microbiology Scholarship-Achievement
Simon Kruczak (Dr. Paola Mera Lab)
Professor Alice Carlene Helm Microbiology Scholarship-Summer Research
Meaghan McCarville (Dr. Brenda Wilson Lab)
Lily Neuer (Dr. Andrei Kuzminov Lab)
Nathan Pryzby (Dr. Brenda Wilson Lab)
Tryggve Vilaseca (Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan Lab)
Dr. Walter A. and Loretta M. Zygmunt Microbiology Scholarship - Summer Research Fellowship
Alex Kim (Dr. Brenda Wilson Lab)
Anh Nguyen (Dr. Brenda Wilson Lab)
Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology
Howard S. Ducoff Award for Outstanding Senior Thesis
Jiyoung Seo (Dr. Erik Nelson Lab)
C. Ladd Prosser Outstanding Achievement Award
Logan Silzer (Dr. Hee Jung Chung Lab)
