The Summer Fellowship Award Program is designed to recognize PhD students conducting research related to scleroderma. The program encourages and fosters the next generation of researchers by cultivating students’ early interests in working to discover the cause and cure of scleroderma.
The 2024 Pre-Doctoral Summer Fellowship Awardees are:
Madeline Morrisson, Dartmouth College
Neerja Marwaha Bhagat Research Scholar Fellowship
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Mentor: Michael Whitfield, PhD
Project Title: Characterization of the Causative Mutation of a Mouse Model of Scleroderma
Aarohi Mehendale, Boston University
Dr. Arnold Postlethwaite Fellowship Award
Graduate Program: Biomedical Engineering
Mentor: Darren Roblyer, PhD
Project Title: Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (SFDI) as a method to track skin involvement in Scleroderma
Emily Ann Morris, Dartmouth College
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Mentor: Patricia A. Pioli, PhD
Project Title: The Role of Fibroblast-derived Exosomal Wnt5a in Pro-Fibrotic Macrophage Metabolic Activation in SSc
Gayathri Guru Murthy, University of Rochester
Graduate Program: Translational Biomedical Science
Mentor: Benjamin Korman, MD
Project Title: Role of Insulin Growth Factor Binding Protein 7 (IGFBP7) in Scleroderma pathogenesisIGFB7 in Scleroderma Pathogenesis
Michelle Wu, Yale University
Graduate Program: Biomedical Engineering
Mentor: Anjelica Gonzalez, PhD
Project Title: Unraveling TNFα-TGFβ1 Crosstalk in Microvascular Driven Fibrosis of Localized Scleroderma
Sandra Sandria, Yale University
Graduate Program: Cell Biology
Mentor: Megan King, PhD
Project Title: Defining a mechanism for SUN2’s mechanical regulation of SSc-associated skin fibrosis
To learn more about the National Scleroderma Foundation’s Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Program, please visit Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Recipients – National Scleroderma Foundation