Congratulations to our Fall 2025 Common App Award recipients!

Graduate School students across our programs were selected to receive the Fall Common App awards honoring reflect their hard work, dedication, and academic excellence. The Graduate School community is proud to celebrate their achievements. Watch the video above to see all of the award recipients. 

Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research 

• Javier Leo – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Di Zhao, PhD 
• Chia Hsin Lin – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Nicholas Navin, PhD 
• Sarah Schneider – Immunology; Advisor: Stephanie S. Watowich, PhD 
• Ping Xu – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Nicholas Navin, PhD 
• Shao-Ping Yang – Immunology; Advisor: Dihua Yu, MD, PhD 

Annette Marie Loguidice Scholarship 

• Aya Albittar – Immunology; Advisor: Sachet Shukla, PhD 
• Muxin Wang – Neuroscience; Advisor: Pratip Bhattacharya, PhD 

Cancer Answers Scholarship 

• Mackenzie Wienke – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Charles Ishak, PhD 

Cancer Answers/Sylvan Rodriguez Scholarship 

• Tyler Bateman – Therapeutics and Pharmacology; Advisor: Ali Azhdarinia, PhD

Charlene Kopchick Fellowship 

• Lana Al Hasani – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Wenbo Li, PhD
• Mya Rodriguez – Neuroscience; Advisor: Andrea Stavoe, PhD

City Federation of Women’s Clubs Endowed Scholarship in Biomedical Sciences 

• Kiara Bornes – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Callie Kwartler, PhD 

Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship 

• Paula Bender – Neuroscience; Advisor: Kristin Eckel-Mahan, PhD 
• Cara Biddle – Molecular and Translational Biology; Advisor: Kendra Carmon, PhD 
• Megan Fisher – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Dung-Fang Lee, PhD 
• Julianna Quinn – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Jun Wang, PhD 
• Cheng-En Shen – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Yuan Pan, PhD 
• Ha Tran – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Charles Manning, PhD 
• Annette Wu – Immunology; Advisor: Wen Jiang, MD. PhD 

Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship (Renewal Fellow 2026) 

• Andrew Gillard – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, MD 
• Peyton High – Molecular and Translational Biology; Advisor: Kendra Carmon, PhD 
• Dounya Jalloul – Neuroscience; Advisor: Michael Beierlein, PhD 
• Maliha Munir – Cancer Biology; Advisor: May Daher, MD 
• Richa Nayak – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Yejing Ge, PhD 
• Ryan Sloan – Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Advisor: Jayhun Lee, PhD 

Ellen Taylor Goldin Legacy Scholarship 

• Shannon Erhardt – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Jun Wang, PhD 

Fadine Jackson Roquemore Scholarship in Cancer Research 

• Henry Meyer – Medical Physics; Advisor: Radhe Mohan, PhD 

Fernando Aron Yarrito Scholarship 

• David Won – Immunology; Advisor: Cassian Yee, MD 

Floyd Haar, MD Endowed Memorial Scholarship in Memory of Freda Haar 

• Zaphanlene Kaffey – Medical Physics; Advisor: C. Dave Fuller, MD, PhD 

George M. Stancel, Ph.D. Fellowship in the Biomedical Sciences 

• Chaitali Bhadiadra – Immunology; Advisor: Liuqing Yang, PhD 
• Reem Elghaish – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Nicholas Navin, PhD 

Gigli Family Endowed Scholarship 

• Phuoc Minh Quan Mai – Therapeutics and Pharmacology; Advisor: Sunil Krishnan, MD, PhD 
• Kathryne Rojeck – Genetic Counseling; Advisor: Jessica Corredor, MS, CGC 

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Endowment Scholarship 

• Shruthi Kannan – Immunology; Advisor: Pavan Bachireddy, MD 
• Cole Ruoff – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Nicholas Navin, PhD 
• Erin Snoddy – Medical Physics; Advisor: Guillermina Lozano, PhD 
• Haoyi Yang – Neuroscience; Advisor: Wei Cao, PhD 

Henry W. Strobel, PhD Endowed Scholarship 

• Teresa Sullivan – Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Advisor: Anna Konovalova, PhD 

Investing in Student Futures Scholarship 

• Brian Koehler – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Jian Hu, PhD
• Nisha Narayanan – Cancer Biology; Hussein Abbas, MD, PhD 
• Yuhan Cao – Neuroscience; Advisor: Qingchun Tong, PhD 
• Yu-Sung Hsu – Immunology; Advisor: Katy Rezvani, PhD 

James E. Tempesta, M.D. Endowed Scholarship 

• Vicky Chuong – Neuroscience; Advisor: Fabricio Do Monte, PhD 

Janet Elaine Pierce Frye Scholarship for Cancer Research 

• Trisha Wathan – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Deepa Sampath, PhD 
• Yueting Zhao – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Nicholas Navin, PhD 

Jesse B. Heath, Jr. Family Legacy Award 

• Anna Marks – Medical Physics; Advisor: Marites Melancon, PhD 
• Sarah Shin – Molecular and Translational Biology; Advisor: Harry Karmouty-Quintana, PhD 
• Yueh-Ming Shyu – Therapeutics and Pharmacology; Advisor: Kendra Carmon, PhD 

John Alexander Deering Scholarship in Neurodegenerative Disease 

• Bhargavi Brahmendra Barathi – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Jason Huse, MD, PhD 
• Heather Tsong – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Andrea Stavoe, PhD 

Michael E. Kupferman, M.D. Fellowship 

• Emily Bontekoe – Immunology; Advisor: Alexandre Reuben, PhD 
• Shuaitong Chen – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Wantong Yao, MD, PhD 

Michelle C. Barton, PhD Scholarship 

• Xiaohan Chi – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Ruitao Lin, PhD 

Molly S. Bray Scholarship 

• Tala Noun – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Humam Kadara, PhD 

Oates Family GSBS Endowment Scholarship 

• Tania Sainz Zuniga – Immunology; Advisor: Francisco Vega, PhD 
• Hsiang-Ching (Adam) Tseng – Molecular and Translational Biology; Advisor: Kuang-Lei Tsai. PhD 
• Yang (Maggie) Zhou – Immunology; Advisor: Stephanie Watowich, PhD 

R.W. Butcher Student Achievement Scholarship 

• Shuyue Wang – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Han Xu, PhD 

Ralph B. Arlinghaus, PhD Scholarship 

• Chi Yin Ching – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Ronald A. DePinho, M.D. 
• Rene Girard – Molecular and Translational Biology; Advisor: Harry Karmouty-Quintana, PhD 
• Ngoc Tuyet Tra – Therapeutics and Pharmacology; Advisor: Sunil Krishnan, MD 

Ray Meyn Scholarship for Cancer Research 

• Minyue Chen – Immunology; Advisor: Humam Kadara, PhD 
• Lian Duan – Medical Physics; Advisor: Stephen Kry, PhD 
• Thierry Iraguha – Immunology; Advisor: Jason Schenkel, PhD, MD 
• Shun Rao – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Yisheng Li, PhD 
• Natalie West – Medical Physics; Advisor: C. Dave Fuller, MD, PhD 

Roberta M. and Jean M. Worsham Endowed Fellowship 

• Alyssa Shulman – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Dihua Yu, MD, PhD 

Sam Taub and Beatrice Burton Endowed Fellowship in Vision Disease 

• Julia Zickus – Molecular and Translational Biology; Advisor: Pratip Bhattacharya, PhD 

Steve Lasher and Janiece Longoria Graduate Student Research Award in Cancer Biology 

• Laurel Boatright – Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Advisor: Lauren Colbert, MD, PhD 

Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation Scholarship honoring George M. Stancel, PhD 

• Anthony Kang – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: C. Dave Fuller, MD, PhD 

T.C. Hsu Memorial Scholarship 

• Yutao Qi – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Ronald DePinho, MD 
• Mith V – Genetics and Epigenetics; Advisor: Guillermina Lozano, PhD 

The Antje Wuelfrath Gee and Harry Gee, Jr. Family Legacy Award 

• Chih Wei Chu – Cancer Biology; Advisor: Kenneth Hu, PhD 
• Ziyu Fu – Medical Physics; Advisor: Jingfei Ma, PhD 

Wei Yu Family Endowed Scholarship 

• Shafqat Ehsan – Quantitative Sciences; Advisor: Lauren Colbert, MD, PhD