The Genetics and Epigenetics Program Community Committee won the hearts of students and faculty when they rolled out the red carpet for their first annual Awards Night, Thursday, July 24. Anticipation, smiles and laughter filled Onstead Auditorium for the ceremony honoring students with scientific and non-scientific awards, with a reception to follow. Program Director Rachel Miller, PhD, and Co-Director George Eisenhoffer, PhD, explained the awards celebrate the program’s strong community and students’ and their mentors’ contributions to the Graduate School and beyond, with their wide range of research. See photos from the event.

Throughout the year students receive various scholarships and fellowships (scientific awards), which help fund their research. As they work together and learn more about each other, nominees for non-scientific awards: who’s most likely to own a zoo, or the faculty member with perfect attendance at events for example, become more apparent.

Congratulations to our current students and faculty on your well-deserved awards! We also welcome our new students: Evelyn Carrion, Haowen Li, and Jaime Ramirez (Richard Behringer, PhD), Maryam Elizondo (Michael Galko, PhD), Renee Rubiano (Alejandro Aballay, PhD), Sohitri Mukherjee (Andrea Stavoe, PhD), and Mackenzie Wienke (Charles Ishak, PhD). We look forward to following your graduate school journey!

Student Scholarships & Fellowships

American Heart Association (AHA) Pre-doctoral Fellowship
Julianna Quinn (Jun Wang, PhD) 2025

Charlene Kopchick Fellowship
Richa Nayak (Yejing Ge, PhD), 2025

Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship
Ryan Sloan (Jayhun Lee, PhD), 2025
Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang (Dung-Fang Lee, PhD), 2024, 2025 - renewal

Janet Elaine Pierce Frye Scholarship for Cancer Research
Dexin Yang (Wenbo Li, PhD), 2025

Jess Hay Endowment for Chancellor’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship
Sseu-Pei Hwang (Catherine Denicourt, PhD), 2025

Larry Deaven Ph.D. Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences
Sseu-Pei Hwang (Catherine Denicourt, PhD), 2025

Michael E. Kupferman, M.D. Fellowship
Julianna Quinn (Jun Wang, PhD), 2024

Ray Meyn Scholarship for Cancer Research
Kate Cho (Kadir Akdemir, MD, PhD), 2025
Lei Yang (Nicholas Navin, PhD), 2025

Russell and Diana Hawkins Family Foundation Discovery Fellowship
Heather Tsong (Andrea Stavoe, PhD), 2024

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (NRSA – F31)
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD), 2024

R.W. Butcher Student Achievement Scholarship
Sseu-Pei Hwang (Catherine Denicourt, PhD), 2025

Schissler Foundation Fellowship
Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang (Dung-Fang Lee, PhD), 2025

Schissler Foundation Fellowship
Richa Nayak (Yejing Ge, PhD), 2024
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD), 2024

T32 Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences Training Program Fellowship
Brandy Walker (Rachel Miller), 2025

T32 Translational Genomics and Precision Medicine in Cancer Training Fellowship-NCI
Annette A. Machado (Jason Huse, MD, PhD) 2024
Shuaitong (Ciara) Cheng (Wantong Yao, PhD) 2024

The George M. Stancel, PhD Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences
Anna Miao (Don Gibbons, MD, PhD), 2025

The Pauline Altman-Goldstein Discovery Fellowship
Mith V (Guillermina Lozano, PhD), 2024 

UTHealth Houston Leads MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School Fellowship
Bhargavi Brahmendra Barathi (Jason Huse, MD, PhD), 2024-2025

VAI Epigenomics Workshop Scholarship
Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang (Dung-Fang Lee, PhD), 2025                                                                               

Student Awards

ASBMR Young Investigator Award, 2024
Mary Adeyeye (Brandan Lee, MD, PhD & Jun Wang, PhD)

Center for Craniofacial Research and Pediatric Research Center Annual Retreat, 2025
Julianna Quinn (Jun Wang, PhD) 1st Place – Flash Talk Presentation 1st Place – Poster Presentation
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD) 2nd Place – Flash Talk Presentation

Dean’s Research Scholarship Award, 2024
Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang (Dung-Fang Lee, PhD)

Dean’s Research Scholarship Award, 2025
Sseu-Pei Hwang (Catherine Denicourt, PhD

Gary Lopashuk Graduate Student Award Finalist – The International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences-North American Section, 2024
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD) – Finalist – Oral Presentation

GSBS Graduate Student Research Day, 2024
Richa Nayak (Yejing Ge, PhD) – 1st Place – Elevator Pitch Competition

Graduate Student Research Day, 2025
Renee Rubiano (Alejandro Aballay, PhD) – 1st Year Poster Award – Pre-Candidacy
Richa Nayak (Yejing Ge, PhD) – Best Poster Award – Post-Candidacy
Ryan Sloan (Jayhun Lee, PhD) – Best Poster Award – Post-Candidacy
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD) – 1st Place – Post-Candidacy Oral Presentation

GSBS Travel Award
Alejandra Davilavaladez (Rachel Miller, PhD)
Amaya Craft (Rachel Miller, PhD)
Annette A. Machado (Jason Huse, MD, PhD)
Diana Machado (Richard Behringer, PhD)
Emely Larios (Francesca Cole, PhD)
Ericka Humphrey (Yejing Ge, PhD)
Maria Gacha Garay (Tingting Mills, PhD)
Richa Nayak (Yejing Ge, PhD)
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD

Genetics and Epigenetics Retreat – Post-Candidacy, 2024
Ericka Humphrey (Yejing Ge, PhD) – 2nd Place – Poster Presentation

Genetics and Epigenetics – Pre-Candidacy, 2024
Annette A. Machado (Jason Huse, MD, PhD) – 2nd Place – Platform Talk
Julianna Quinn (Jun Wang, PhD) – 1st Place – Poster Presentation

President’s Research Excellence Award, 2024-2025
Brandy Walker (Rachel Miller, PhD)

Scientist Mentoring & Diversity Program for Biotechnology (SMDP Biotech) Scholar Award, 2025 
Annette A. Machado (Jason Huse, MD, PhD)

Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America-Texas Chapter Annual Symposium, 2025
Julianna Quinn (Jun Wang, PhD) Finalist – Oral Presentation
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD) Finalist – Oral Presentation

The Antje Wuelfrath Gee and Harry Gee, Jr. Family Legacy Award, 2024-2025
Lanxin Bei (Wenbo Li, PhD)

Translational Molecular Pathology Retreat, 2024
Annette A. Machado (Jason Huse, MD, PhD) – 1st Place – Poster Presentation

Weinstein Cardiovascular Development and Regeneration Conference, 2024
Shannon Erhardt (Jun Wang, PhD) – Poster Presentation Award – Presented by Banque National

Student Service Awards

Anna Miao (Don Gibbons, MD, PhD), Bhargavi Barathi Brahmendra (Jason Huse, MD, PhD), D'Shaunique Walters (Lauren Colbert, MD), Ericka Humphrey (Yejing Ge, PhD), Heather Tsong (Andrea Stavoe, PhD), Jace Aloway (Richard Behringer, PhD), Josh Lindenberger (Guillermina Lozano, PhD), and Julianna Quinn (Jun Wang, PhD)

Non-Scientific Awards