Here's a snapshot of awards, scholarships, publications and fellowships Drexel University students have earned in the past term, courtesy of the Office of the Provost.
Scholarships, Fellowships and Publications
Jon Merwin, PhD biodiversity, earth and environmental science (BEES) ’26 from the College of Arts and Sciences, presented a talk, “The Molecular Underpinnings of Mimicry in Toucans and Hornbills,” at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in January in Atlanta, as well as “Community Science Images, Museum Specimens, and Whole Genome Sequencing Reveal the Molecular Underpinnings of Mimicry in Toucans” at the BEES graduate seminar in March.
Samuel Sung, PhD candidate from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, was a semi-finalist for a Fulbright Study/Research Grant to Germany. He was one of 17 Drexel University Fulbright semi-finalists.
Xizhi Tan, BS mathematics ’19 and PhD computer science ’25 from the College of Arts and Sciences, has been offered the prestigious Motwani Postdoctoral Fellowship in theoretical computer science at Stanford University beginning this summer.
College of Medicine students Giang Le Minh, PhD candidate in biochemistry; Nusaiba N. Ahmed, PhD candidate in biochemistry; Riley G. Young, PhD candidate in molecular and cell biology and genetics; and Jessica Merzy, PhD candidate in molecular and cell biology and genetics; authored “GATAD2B O-GlcNAcylation Regulates Breast Cancer Stem-like Potential and Drug Resistance,” which appeared in the March 2025 issue of the journal Cells. They worked with Drexel colleagues Emily M. Esquea, PhD, post-doctoral researcher; Ryan J. Sharp, PhD, researcher; Mauricio Reginato, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and director of the Graduate Program in Cancer Biology; and colleagues from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Jade K. Dodge, MD ’27 from the College of Medicine, received the McGruder-Knox Scholarship from the Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania. The scholarship is awarded to those who uphold the ideals of the medical profession and the mission of the National Medical Association.
Tai Simpson, PhD candidate in epidemiology ’26, and Kaylee Wilson, BA sociology and global public health ’25, both from the Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health, represented the school at the Population Association of America conference in April 2025. They presented “An Intersectional Comparison of Mental Health Outcomes by Sexual Minority Status and Rurality,” which was Simpson’s first research project at Drexel.
Pearl Diabene, BS public health ’25 from the Dornsife School of Public Health, was selected as 2025–26 Fulbright United States Student Program semi-finalist for an English teaching assistantship to Ecuador.
Kevin Le, BS finance, business analytics and management information systems ’27 from the LeBow College of Business, received the Alumni Impact Endowed Scholarship from the Drexel Alumni Board of Governors.
Kiana Ahmari, mechanical engineering ’27 from the College of Engineering; Kelly Baran, biological sciences ’26 from the College of Arts and Sciences; Saffron Buscemi, custom-designed, ’27 from the Pennoni Honors College; and Sydney Rowley, custom-designed ’27 from the Pennoni Honors College, were selected for DAAD Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE). They spent spring term in research co-ops funded by Pennoni’s Undergraduate Research and Enrichment Programs and Drexel’s Steinbright Career Development Center before conducting research at universities across Germany over the summer.
Madeline Navea, BS psychology ’25 from the College of Arts and Sciences, received the Goldwater Scholarship. This award recognizes top undergraduates in science, math and engineering fields who are planning to pursue research careers and provides funding for up to two years of undergraduate study.
Monica Blasdell, PhD candidate in education ’25; Casey Hanna, PhD candidate in education ’26; and Sinead Meehan, PhD candidate in education ’25; all from the School of Education, co-authored an article titled, “Education for Sustainability, Altruism, and Human Rights: A Mixed Methods Intervention Study,” which was published in the March edition of Human Rights Education Review.
Anuraj Bhatnagar, Arefeh Ahmadi, Darren Woodland, Jr., Darya Ramezani, Golshid Jaferian, Nicolas Eduardo Losada Martinez, Sasan Bahrami, all digital media PhD students in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, published “Media, Arts and Design (MAD) Anthology III” with the University of Krems Press, a companion book to the MAD Conference 2024. It contains peer-reviewed contributions from the above students, as well as faculty.
Sanonda Datta Gupta, PhD candidate in information science in the College of Computing & Informatics, along with assistant professor John S. Seberger, PhD, presented the paper “Designing for Difference: How We Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Doppelganger” at the Association for Computer Machinery’s CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Yokohama, Japan in April. The paper will also be published in Proceedings of the 2025 SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
The College of Arts and Sciences’ Tiara Bounyarith, PhD candidate in clinical psychology; Hunter Chang, BS psychology ’25; Sky Harper, BS chemistry ’24; and Lotus Shareef-Trudeau, PhD candidate in clinical psychology, received the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. This fellowship recognizes and supports students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and math and STEM education fields. Honorable mentions include: Yoongyeong Baek, PhD candidate in chemistry; Sneha Boda, BS psychology ’23; and Owen Goodchild, BS geoscience’23; all from the College of Arts and Sciences, .
Pennoni Honors College’s Undergraduate Research and Enrichment Programs office awarded 12 Drexel student and faculty pairs with mini grants of up to $1,000 to fund spring research, scholarship and creative work. Awards went to:
- Daniel Chigozirim Agbara, mechanical engineering ’25, and Lifeng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, from the College of Engineering
- Jordana Benblatt, psychology and health services administration’26 from the College of Arts and Sciences; and Kristy Kelly, PhD, associate clinical professor from the School of Education
- Kelvin Cai, mechanical engineering ’28, and Lifeng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, from the College of Engineering
- Phoebe Ellin Chua, biomedical engineering ’27, and Kara L. Spiller, PhD, URBN Professor of Biomedical Innovation from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems
- Jaden Drumm, biological sciences ’27 from the College of Arts and Sciences; and Alessandro Fatatis, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology from the College of Medicine
- Jon Lin, mechanical engineering ’25, and Lifeng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, from the College of Engineering;
- Madeline Navea, psychology ’25 from the College of Arts and Sciences; and Elizabeth Velkoff, PhD, postdoctoral researcher from the College of Engineering
- Gary Pham, computer science ’25 from the College of Computing and Informatics; and Lifeng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, from the College of Engineering
- Nihar Shah, economics and data science ’28 from the School of Economics & College of Computing and Informatics; and André Kurmann, PhD, professor of economics and the Dean’s Research Scholar in Economics from the School of Economics and Lebow College of Business
- Sarah Sikder, health sciences ’26 from the College of Nursing and Health Professions; and Alexa Tompary, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences from the College of Arts and Sciences
- John Tran, computer engineering, and Lifeng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, from the College of Engineering
- Emily Woodland, BS/MS biomedical engineering ’27 from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science & Health Systems, and Lifeng Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, from the College of Engineering
Robb Hall, BS cyber security and information technology ’25 from the College of Computing & Informatics, received a scholarship from the Google/Student Veterans of America Scholarship Fund.
Amber Watters, BS architectural engineering ’27 from the College of Engineering, received the Lewis A. Caccese Scholarship from the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia during Delaware Valley Engineers Week in February.
Banah Khamis, BA global studies ’25 from the College of Arts and Sciences, co-authored “Populism and Dialogue: How Enforced Binaries Make the Populace Harder to Dialogue With and to Understand,” published in the Journal of Dialogue Studies.
Oluwatofunmi Oteju and Marzieh Daniali, PhD students in pharmacology and physiology in the College of Medicine, published “Dopamine-Driven Increase in IL-1β In Myeloid Cells Is Mediated by Differential Dopamine Receptor Expression and Exacerbated by HIV” in the Journal of Inflammation. Other College of Medicine faculty, staff and alumni, along with colleagues at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of California San Diego, are also authors.
Alexandra Goodin, BS psychology ’25 from the College of Arts and Sciences, presented her undergraduate senior thesis research on binge eating disorder and food addiction at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association in New York City.
Pennoni Honors College’s office of Undergraduate Research and Enrichment Programs’ Students Tackling Advanced Research (STAR) welcomed their 2025 cohort of 122 students. STAR students will engage in an immersive, full-time, faculty-mentored research, scholarly or creative project over the summer 2025 term. Nine colleges and schools are represented, including the College of Engineering, Goodwin College of Professional Studies, LeBow College of Business, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Computing & Informatics, School of Education, College of Nursing and Health Professions and School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems.
Academic Accolades and Other Achievements
Drexel and Howard University students came together for the third workshop in the Department of Energy-funded Clean Energy Justice Collective program, an initiative focused on building decarbonization, clean energy and energy justice education. The workshop was hosted by The Environmental Collaboratory and included a tour showcasing how sustainability can be built into every medium. Students presented projects developed in earlier workshops highlighting community engagement, innovation, research-driven insights and their relevance to clean energy justice.
Sumeet Musfirah, BS psychology ’28, won the Fast Pitch competition in the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship’s Future Fest competition for her idea, “Neuromodulation.”
Student teams competed in the Baiada Institute Innovation Tournament, a competition in which students research and develop market-based solutions addressing the theme of “disaster,” specifically focusing on at least one of the six components of disaster relief of preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, prevention and communication. Teams conducted all research within a single day before presenting their proposals in a final pitch competition. Winning teams include:
- Insure 3D: Janis Niv, entrepreneurship and innovation ’25 from the Close School of Entrepreneurship; Max Chamuel, entrepreneurship and innovation ’27 from the Close School of Entrepreneurship; Tanish Kamuwat, BSBA finance/business analytics ’27 from the LeBow College of Business; and Prashastha Nirwan, computer science ’26 from the College of Computing & Informatics
- Safe Sack: Isabella Cuares ’26; Max Hite ’27, Mecham Lopez ’26 and Ryan Yahata ’26, all product design students from the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
- Disaster Ready: Ahmad Ibraheem, BSBA business analytics ’25 from the LeBow College of Business, Faris Dababneh, electrical and computer engineering ’29 from the College of Engineering, and computer science students Abdul Chaudhry ’27, Ame Shajid ’28 and Samii Shabuse ’27 from the College of Computing & Informatics
- Daisy: Rafael Bernstein, product design ’26, Camden Steinert, industrial product design ’26, Kai Zukor, graphic design ’26 and Sally Lytle, interior design ’26 from the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
- HULT Prize (Regional competition, qualifying winner for National Challenge): Student venture, made by Malley, led by Amelia Niedermier, architecture ’28 from the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
- Paul Scheffler Endowed Award: Kamdi Okeke, biomedical engineering ’26 from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Victoria Faith Miller, BS entrepreneurship and innovation ’24 and MBA ’25, from the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business, was selected as a recipient of Drexel’s Outstanding Student Award. This prestigious award recognizes an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student who has demonstrated exceptional academic achievement along with active involvement and leadership in university activities and community organizations.
Maekhi Yarbrough, BS health sciences ’26 from the College of Nursing and Health Professions, developed an innovative tool to enhance the experience of both patients and staff at the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th St. Family Services. Yarbrough created a floor clock as a visual aid for use with the Clock Yourself balance training app. By offering a consistent visual guide with a reference point on the floor, the floor clock promotes better coordination, quick thinking and effective multidirectional movement during therapy sessions.
Alyssa Kemp, BS/MS environmental engineering ’25 from the College of Engineering and a co-op student with The Environmental Collaboratory, was awarded funding through Second Nature’s Catalyst Grant, which will be used to create a centralized curriculum hub that will be dedicated to incorporating environmental and social justice themes into College of Engineering curriculum. The project aims to equip students with the skills to design innovative and equitable solutions to today’s complex challenges.
The College of Medicine celebrated Match Day on March 21, including the first Match Day ceremony held at the West Reading Campus. Both the West Reading Campus and University City Campus had a very successful match, with the match percentage of 94.4 exceeding the national match rate of 93.5%. The most sought-after specialties for the MD class of 2025 were internal medicine, anesthesiology, emergency medicine and family medicine.