Congratulations to Erin O'Brien, on receiving a 2021 IIE-GIRE Scholarship!
December 2, 2020
Congratulations to Erin O'Brien, who has received a prestigious IIE-Graduate International Research Experiences (IIE-GIRE) Program scholarship!
Erin O’Brien is a PhD candidate in Dr. Kara Spiller’s lab at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems. She developed her interest in immune-targeted medicine as a research assistant at the Wistar Institute, where she studied the efficacy of tumor immunotherapies. Her current research seeks to understand the behavior of macrophages, immune cells that regulate healing, and uses these findings to develop biomaterials that direct macrophage behavior. Outside of the lab, Erin enjoys connecting with Drexel’s STEM community through her position as president of Drexel Graduate Women in Science and Engineering. With the IIE-GIRE Scholarship, Erin will be pursuing engineering research abroad in Australia at Monash University in July of 2021.
The IIE-GIRE is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). It supports U.S. doctoral engineering students to conduct innovative research abroad for 3 to 5 months in order to develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a globalized world while enhancing U.S. economic competitiveness and collective scientific knowledge.