STUDENT MERITS
OUTSTANDING TALENT Scholars receive competitive funding to further their research and education
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WENDY BROWN, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR, HAS BEEN NAMED A 2020 FOR WOMEN IN SCIENCE FELLOW BY L’ORÉAL USA. Brown is one of five female postdoctoral scientists in the country to receive the grant of $60,000. Working in Distinguished Professor Kyriacos Athanasiou’s lab, Brown focuses on engineering cartilage for facial reconstruction. Nasal cartilage pathologies (like congenital defects) and trauma have devastating health effects for civilians and military personnel. Large, mechanically robust grafts are required for reconstructive rhinoplasty and are frequently harvested from a patient’s own nasal septum. However, this is often not possible because the nose is damaged. Brown is working on growing cartilage in anatomical shapes and sizes from highly expanded cells for surgical implantation. She seeks to help millions of people around the world with facial damage. “This fellowship allows me to establish myself as an independent scientist and to pursue career-defining research in my area of interest,” said Brown. “This fellowship also gives me the resources to serve as a mentor and to develop science outreach programs for other young women in STEM.”
TWO BME STUDENTS RECEIVED GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AWARDS FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. The GRFP is a five-year fellowship providing financial support to graduate students for three years. The competitive award is open to master’s and doctoral students who are pursuing STEM-oriented research at accredited U.S. institutions. ANDREW SUM is a second-year doctoral student. Advised by Associate Professor Elliot Hui, Sum is working on a microfluidic droplet platform for highthroughput screening of a panel of peptides, small protein-like molecules. Sum’s research goal is to screen metagenomic samples for synergistic antimicrobial effects where a combination of two or more peptides would have a greater effect than the peptides would individually. “The discoveries from these experiments can potentially address issues related to antibiotic resistance and agricultural pathogen prevention,” said Sum.
HEATHER ROMERO MERCIECA is a senior undergraduate student. She will pursue her doctorate and conduct research focusing on renewable energy. During her undergraduate studies, Romero Mercieca spent more than two years researching electrochemical sensors in Professor Michelle Khine’s lab. Most recently, she was working with a team to develop an electrochemical aptamer-based biosensor for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. After earning her doctorate, Romero Mercieca hopes to help communities of black, indigenous and people of color attain energy sovereignty. “It is a great honor to get the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, as it will give me the financial support to complete my Ph.D. as well as the freedom to define my research focus and goals,” she said. “I would like to thank the Minority Science Program at UCI for uplifting and guiding me through my research and application process.”
On winning the award, Sum said, “It was extremely encouraging to know that other scientists thought my ideas and goals were worth funding.”
UCI Department of Biomedical Engineering
