January 22, 2025

The winners of the 2025 Cotswold Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship are:

• Nili Gesser, PhD, JD, Criminology and Justice Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences, supervised by Jordan Hyatt, PhD, JD, project title "Bars or bridges? Weighing Incarceration Against Community Service for Women Committing Low-Level Crimes"
• Meagan Sundstrom, PhD, Physics Department, College of Arts and Sciences, supervised by Eric Brewe, PhD, project title "Network Approaches to Characterizing Active Learning Environments in Physics"
• Candida Da Silva Ferreira Barreto, PhD, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, supervised by Hasan Ayaz, PhD, project title "Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying robot-mediated social approaches for
  children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder"
• Partial awardee: Martha Coates, PhD, RN, CRNP, AGPCNP-BC, Nursing Department, College of Nursing and Health Professions, supervised by Rose Anne DiMaria-Ghalili, PhD, RN, FASPEN, FAAN, FGSA, project title "Exploring Deprescribing Acceptance Among Older Adults with Cancer"

The fellowship received a record 17 applications this year. More than 30 faculty and professional staff members engaged in the review process which was chaired by Dr. Rosalind Remer. The fellowship, which is made possible through generous support from the Cotswold Foundation and Mrs. Martha and Mr. Wistar Morris, has supported 19 postdocs from 2019 through 2025. It is intended to foster the career development of Drexel University postdoctoral researchers in formal, physical, life, and applied sciences who are pursuing a career in academic research and are seeking long-term employment at a US educational and/or research institution. The fellowship is intended to subsidize and support postdoctoral training by providing approximately $83K for one year (an increase in donor support from $50K in prior years), which can be utilized for salary, fringe, professional development, or any combination of the three. In addition, fellows are expected to augment instruction at Drexel by providing additional teaching resources in a key scientific, engineering, or clinical field. The fellowship is open to Drexel postdocs who completed at least two full years of postdoctoral fellowship within five years of their doctoral degree completion.

Congratulations to this year's fellows as there was an outstanding pool of applicants!