Our graduate community is composed of really outstanding people! Here are some things they have been doing lately:

Recent Fellowship & Award Recipients (2024-2025) 

• Herbert Fountain -  2024 Longevity Biotech Fellows by the Foresight Institute
• Alivia Ishee- NSF GRFP 2025 honorable mention
• Emma Kosmeder- NSF GRFP 2025 honorable mention

Recent Graduates

May 2025

• Noor Bala PhD
• Megan Fahey PhD
• James Cockey PhD
• Sarah Saddoris PhD
• Viraj Upadhye PhD
• Oluwafemi Adu PhD
• Paula Banuelos PhD
• Hsin-Yun (Rachel) Chang PhD
• Bailey Lubinski PhD

December 2024

• Viviana Maymi PhD
• Camille Holmes PhD
• Chloe Cheng PhD
• Bom Nae Rin Lee PhD
• Sebastian Llanos Soto PhD
• Naya Eady PhD 

August 2024 

• Megan Keller PhD
• Jessica Caroline Gomes Noll PhD
• Sarah Post PhD 

May 2024

• James Miller PhD
• Liangdao Li PhD
• Dan Crowley PhD
• Timothy Robinette PhD
• Caylee Falvo PhD
• Joshua Jones PhD

December  2023

• Orchi Anannya PhD
• Danielle Sosnicki PhD
• Seona Lee PhD
• Rosanna Ma PhD
• Haewon May Byun PhD
• Keiran Koch-Laskowski PhD
• James Mullman PhD
• Esteban Flores Cortes PhD 

BBS Kudos 

We look forward to hearing about our beautiful community and highlighting all they do to create a better world.  Please submit a Kudos using the Kudos Form to let us know what you or your peer or mentee have done.

Viraj Upadhye (4th year BBS candidate) is recognized for his passion for structural biology.  Viraj has taken time to expand his knowledge by attending an off campus symposium and by keeping up with the latest techniques in his field. He consistently contributes structural insights to journal club sessions. He also takes the time to ask insightful questions at the BBS Work in Progress Seminars any time one of his peers projects has a structural component."

Jonathan Villanueva (5th year BBS candidate) is a rising star!  Just in the past half-year, he received the Provost's Diversity Fellowship for Doctoral Students, published a first-author paper, and accepted an offer for a post-doctoral position at the University of Michigan.  I am so impressed with his drive, focus, and aptitude.  Jon is also a very thoughtful colleague who gives generously of his time and knowledge to others.

Kieran Koch-Laskowski is a top-notch BBS candidate (DVM/PhD). She is creative, independent, reliable, and hard-working. She is also also exceptional at science communication, and works hard at both writing and visual presentation of her work. Most recently, she gave an invited lecture for the Endoderm Club (a seminar series run out of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center). Her talk covered her most recent work that leverages state-of-the-art genome technology to investigate how the intestine adapts to bariatric surgery at unprecedented resolution. Her findings have implications for diabetes and other gastrointestinal conditions. Her lecture was incredibly clear, engaging, and enjoyable. I am very proud of her, her efforts, her drive, and her accomplishments.