Students & Alumni
Honors and Distinctions
Emily Esquea, MS (mentor: Dr. Mauricio Reginato) was awarded 1st place for Best Trainee Short Talk. Nima Sarfaraz, MS (mentor: Dr. Michael Bouchard) was awarded 1st place for Best Trainee Poster Presentation.
Tara Fortino (mentor: Dr. Michael Lane) received “Excellence in Student Mentoring Award” from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies.
Skandha Ramakrishnan (mentor: Dr. Liang Oscar Qiang) received an ASNTR travel award from the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair, March 2023
Emily Esquea (mentor: Dr. Mauricio Reginato) received Dean's Travel Award, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, Drexel University, College of Medicine, December 2022. Emily also received the Best Poster Presentation 1st Place, Cancer Research Training and Education Retreat, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, December 2022.
Kayla Schardien (mentor: Dr. Michael Lane) received an ASNTR travel award from the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair, March 2023.
Anna Lilly (mentor: Dr. Erica Golemis) received Dean's Travel Award, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, Drexel University, College of Medicine, May 2023.
Kelvin Koser (mentor: Dr. Joshua Mell) received the 2nd place research poster presentation award, 2023 Drexel Emerging Graduate Scholars Conference, April 2023.
Mihyun Oh (mentor: Dr. Srinivas Somarowthu) received the 2nd place in-person oral research presentation award, 2023 Drexel Emerging Graduate Scholars Conference, April 2023.
Sarath R (mentor: Dr. Shae Padrick) received "High Performance award” sponsored by Ballard Spahr for startup pitching by Nucleate, May 2023. Sarath also received "High Impact Culture award” sponsored by Millipore Sigma for startup pitching by Nucleate, May 2023.
Lorela Ciraku received the 2022 Research Excellence Award for the Most Original & Creative Work given by the Graduate College.
Emily Esquea received the 2022 Award for Excellence in Research (MS degree) given by the Division of Biomedical Science Graduate Programs and the 2022 Jane Clifford Best MS Thesis Award given by the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
Michelle Swift received the 2022 Jane Clifford Best PhD Dissertation Award given by the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and the 2022 Amedio Bondi Endowed Graduate Award for Excellence in Research Performance, the highest recognition given to students at Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies.
Emily Esquea and Lorela Ciraku celebrating their awards in research excellence.
Emily Esquea and Michelle Swift celebrating their thesis awards with Dr. Jane Clifford.
Alexa Cannon (mentor: Jonathan Chernoff) gave a platform presentation at Drexel Discovery Day 2022.
Alyssa Sanders (mentor: Mauricio Reginato, PhD) received an honorable mention for Outstanding Junior Graduate Student Poster.
Michelle Swift was nominated for 2021 Research Excellent Award (post-candidacy).
Danielle Piazza was nominated for 2021 Outstanding Mentorship Award.
Julia Oleksak was nominated for 2021 Research Excellent Award (master’s).
Katherine Innamorati was nominated for 2021 Research Excellent Award (most original & creative work).
Anna Lilly was nominated for 2021 Research Excellent Award (pre-candidacy). She received the Daiichi-Sankyo Best Poster Award, FCCC Annual Trainee Research Day 2020.
Jill Lawrence (mentor: Dr. Michael Nonnemacher) was nominated for 2021 Outstanding Mentorship Award. She received third place for Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Poster, Discovery Day 2020
Emily Esquea (mentor: Dr. Mauricio Reginato) received third place for Outstanding Junior Graduate Student Poster, Discovery Day 2020
Rebecca Holton was nominated for 2021 Outstanding Mentorship Award. She received first place for Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Poster, Discovery Day 2019
Kritika Hanamshet received second place for Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Poster, Discovery Day 2019
Jasmine Peake's presentation was selected as a top poster at the DNA Damage, Mutation, and Cancer Gordon Research Conference in 2020. She received the 2019 Outstanding Graduate Student Mentorship Award for her commitment to mentoring and supporting undergraduate and junior graduate students. She was also the College of Medicine finalist for the 2019 Drexel Common Good Award. Jasmine is a Southern Regional Education Board State doctoral fellow for the 2019 Institute on Teaching and Mentoring. Jasmine has been conducting her doctoral dissertation research in the laboratory of Dr. Eishi Noguchi (Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology).
Sheila Longo has received a Genetic Society of America (GSA) Grant Award for the 2019 Immersion Science Center Career Development Symposium. As a scientist instructor for the Immersion Science Program (ISP), Sheila trained high school students to engage in scientific research. Sheila also served as the point person for communication with GSA about the ISP symposium and wrote a press release for the GSA describing the ISP Classroom symposium event. Sheila is an MCBG graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Alana O'Reilly (Fox Chase Cancer Center).
Lindsay Steel served as an instructor with the Immersion Science Program (ISP) at Fox Chase Cancer Center to train high school students in laboratory techniques. Lindsay also served on the ISP selection committee to review student applications for the research course. Lindsay also attended the ISP Career Development Symposium to support the high school students as they presented the research that they conducted in their high school science class with the ISP In-classroom training program. The symposium took place at the Franklin Institute in May 2019. Lindsay is an MCBG graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Boris Polyak (Department of Surgery).
Manali Potnis received a Meritorious Award to Support Diversity in Biology of Aging Research, American Aging Association Meeting, 2021. She has been serving as a student representative on the Women in Medicine and Science Committee (WIMSC). The mission of the committee is to support and promote the professional development, career advancement and leadership of women in medicine and science at Drexel University College of Medicine. WIMSC hosts seminars, networking events, and awards that focus on empowering women in science. The multidisciplinary group includes scientists, physicians, technicians, and graduate student representatives. Members attend monthly meetings with agendas working toward increasing representation of women in science, a fair representation of women, and empowerment of minorities. Manali is an MCBG graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Christian Sell (Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine).
Kristopher Raghavan's work was selected for an outstanding poster presentation at New York Academy of Science (2019). He also received a travel award from Drexel's Biomedical Science Graduate Student Alliance to present his research project titled "Novel surface factors on stroma-derived extracellular vesicles in pancreatic cancer. Kris is an MCBG graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Edna Cukierman (Fox Chase Cancer Center).
Tim Beck received the 2018 Amedeo Bondi, PhD, Endowed Graduate Award for excellence in research performance during the training experience. This is the highest recognition given to students in Biomedical Graduate Studies programs. Tim conducted his thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Erica Golemis (Fox Chase Cancer Center).
Shridhar Sanghvi was nominated as the College of Medicine finalist for the 2018 Research Excellence Award. Shridhar conducted his MS research in the laboratory of Dr. Harpreet Singh (Department of Pharmacology & Physiology).
Andrew Matamoros was appointed president of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies, Division of Biomedical Science Programs. Andrew has been conducting his doctoral dissertation research in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Baas, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy).
Christina Ferrer received the 2016 Amedeo Bondi, PhD, Endowed Graduate Award for excellence in research performance during the training experience. This is the highest recognition given to students in Biomedical Graduate Studies programs. Christina conducted her thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Mauricio Reginato (Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology).
Mihir Shetty received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Research (MS degree) for his thesis studies "Maf1-dependent transcriptional regulation of tRNA genes extends lifespan in fission yeast under calorie-restricted conditions." Mihir performed this work in the laboratory of Dr. Eishi Noguchi (Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology).
Isaac Zentner received the 2015 Amedeo Bondi, PhD Endowed Graduate Award for excellence in research performance during the training experience. This is the highest recognition given to graduate students in Biomedical Graduate Studies programs.