Grantee Directory: 2008-09

In 2008, 22 out of 45 applicants were awarded a Whitaker International Program grant. 19 awardees elected to take the grant funding.

Below you will find information on the 2008-09 Whitaker Program Fellows [1] and Scholars [2]. To get a more detailed picture of their projects, click on the grantee's name to see an abstract of the individual project.

Fellows

The sixteen Whitaker International Fellows are traveling to six countries to undertake biomedical engineering projects during the 2008-09 academic year. Many of them will return to the U.S. after their projects to complete or begin Ph.D. programs in biomedical engineering.

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Ms. Jennifer Boyd [3], North Carolina State University

Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, University of Oxford
Project Title: Determining Optimal Hip Implant and Surgical Procedure from RSA and Gait Analysis

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Mr. Devin Bridgen [4], Cornell University

Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, University Hospital Basel
Project Title: Controlled Angiogenesis via Scaffold and VEGF Manipulation in Cellular IVD Substitutes

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Ms. Kristy Cloyd [5], University of Texas Arlington; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, Imperial College London
Project Title: Raman Spectroscopy for Noninvasive Real-Time Analysis and Characterization of Living Cells

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Ms. Stephanie Delgado [6], Pennsylvania State University

Host Country, Institution: Australia, Vision Cooperative Research Center at University of New South Wales
Project Title: Development and Optimization of Soft Contact lenses for Corneal Reshaping

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Mr. Daniel Goodman [7], University of California, San Diego

Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, Cambridge University; University of Edinburgh
Project Title: Development and Integration of High-Throughput Measurement Technologies and Computational Modeling

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Mr. Bryan Haslam [8], Brigham Young University

Host Country, Institution: The Netherlands, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Project Title: Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Phase Miscroscopy of Intracellular Dynamics

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Ms. Priscilla Hwang [9], Duke University

Host Country, Institution: The Netherlands, Eindhoven University of Technology
Project Title: Development of Artificial Nulcleous Pulposus System to Simulate the Inter-Vertebral Disc

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Ms. Gowri Jayaram [10], Northwestern University

Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, University of Oxford; University College of London
Project Title: Post-Stroke Therapy Selection Using Magnetic Resonance Tractography and Non-Invasive Stimulation

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Ms. Kathleen Koch [11], Yale University

Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, ETH Zurich - Institute of Biomechanics
Project Title: The Dffect of Estrogen on Mechanical Load-Induced Bone Remodeling

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Ms. Alina Levchuk [12], City College of New York - CUNY

Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, ETH Zurich
Project Title: Ultrastructural Assessment of Bone Development Using Synchrotron Radiation Based Nano-CT

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Mr. Brandon Markway [13], Oregon Health&Science University

Host Country, Institution: Australia, University of Queensland
Project Title: Engineering Bioactive Surfaces for Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Maintenance

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Mr. Kunal Mehta [14], University of California, Los Angeles

Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, University of Oxford
Project Title: Nanopore Arrays for rapid DNA Sequencing

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Mr. Michael Morley [15], Illinois Institute of Technology

Host Country, Institution: Colombia, Universidad de Los Andes
Project Title: Redesigning Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P) for Low-Income Communities

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Ms. Devjani Saha [16], Northwestern University

Host Country, Institution: Italy, Italian Institute of Technology (University of Genoa)
Project Title: The Effect of Feedback Dimensionality on Bimanual Training

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Ms. Jennifer Shum [17], Cornell University

Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Project Title: Patterned Optical Stimulation of Neuronal Circuits Using Digital Light Processing (DLP) Technology

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Ms. Ashley Wessendorf [18], University of Illinois

Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, Cambridge University
Project Title: Masters of Philosophy in Bioscience Enterprise

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Scholars

The three Whitaker International Scholars are going to two countries for one to two years during which they will pursue post-doctoral research in biomedical engineering.

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Ms. Grace Li [19], Brown University

Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, ETH Zurich
Project Title: Engineered Microenvironment with Geometric and Mechanical Constraints to Regulate Stemcell Function

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Mr. Clark Meyer [20], Texas A&M University

Host Country, Institution: France, Institut de Recherche sur les Phenomenes Hors Equilibre; CNRS
Project Title: Thrombus and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Remodeling

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Mrs. Susan Thomas [21], The Johns Hopkins University

Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Project Title: Developing Anticancer Vaccines Using Lymph Node Targeting Nanoparticles