Awards & Honors

Irving Estevez a PhD student in the Neuroscience graduate program at Rutgers has been awarded a prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellowship in July 2023.  Nationally, there are only 50 Gilliam Fellows awarded per year for students conducting outstanding research in their respective scientific fields and their advisers who are committed to building a more inclusive scientific ecosystem. Irving’s thesis advisor is Brian P.

The School of Graduate Studies proudly recognizing the notable achievements of graduate students, faculty, and staff at the annual Merit and Achievement Awards Ceremony. These awards recognize important accomplishments in research and scholarship, teaching and mentoring, leadership, outreach, and service across all disciplines, through Chancellor-level affiliations, and within specific disciplinary clusters.

Prof. D. Asher Ghertner, an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Director of the Graduate Program in Geography, Rutgers University, was awarded the prestigious Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award on Friday, April 21, 2023, at the NAGS annual meeting in Portsmouth, NH.  

Congratulations to Zoey Eddy, a second year PhD student in Social Psychology and a 2020 alumna of the RISE at Rutgers summer program, who was awarded two highly competitive national fellowships: a 2023 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship and a 2023 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship.

Congratulations to the winners at the MBGSO Graduate Student Symposium.  We are proud of all of our presenters and grateful to the MBGSO board for organizing this amazing event! 

Winners for posters:

1st place: Kiranmayi Vemuri
2nd place: Leelabati Biswas
3rd place: Michelle Bilotti

Winners for oral presentations:

Congratulations to Courtney McDermott who has has been selected for the University of Utah Rising Star in Neuroscience Symposium. This program seeks to provide career development and mentorship for exceptional late-stage graduate students in neuroscience, with a strong focus on spotlighting scientists from under-represented minority groups. Activities at the multi-day workshop in May include:

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the School of Graduate Studies is delighted to announce that Kirsten Allen, a RISE alum, was recently named an inaugural 2023 QUAD fellow . This scholarship program, in its first year, is designed to build ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists as an initiative of the governments of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.

Congratulations to Leelabati Biswas, a MD/PhD Candidate from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the 2022 winner of the American Medical Association (AMA) Research Challenge!

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the School of Graduate Studies is delighted to highlight some recent accomplishments of Research Intensive Summer Experience (RISE) alumni.

Congratulations to the following RISE Scholars:

Katya Echazarreta

Congratulations to the three Aaron Shatkin Award winners from fall 2022. The award recognizes outstanding graduate students who have excelled in their research and coursework:

Kaiden Power
Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
From the lab of Maureen Barr

Stephania Guzman
Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology
From the lab of Moshmi Bhattacharya

Iva Salamon
Neuroscience
From the lab of Roko Rasin