Grants & Awards 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorees

Twenty-seven current Penn graduate students have been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and 18 current graduate students and recent graduate alumni received Honorable Mentions. These students were selected from a highly-competitive pool of over 12,000 applications nationwide. We congratulate these students, who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to their research, as well as the faculty mentors who have given them guidance and support along the way. 

2020 Penn Graduate NSF GRFP Honorees

  • Jenea Imani Adams, PhD Student, Genomics and Computational Biology; Honorable Mention

  • Amanda Bacon, PhD Student, Physics and Astronomy; Recipient

  • Angus William Beane, BS/MS '19, Physics; Honorable Mention

  • William Benman, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Yuzhang Chen, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Honorable Mention

  • Yueli Chen, PhD Student, Chemistry; Recipient

  • Katie Elizabeth Copley, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Honorable Mention

  • Michael Joseph D'Agati, PhD Student, Electrical and Systems Engineering; Recipient

  • Lilia Fernanda Escobedo, PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Recipient

  • Paul Morgan Gehret, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Sam George Giannakoulias, PhD Student, Chemistry; Recipient

  • Victor Gomes, PhD Student, Psychology; Honorable Mention

  • Varun Gupta, PhD Student, Computer and Information Science; Honorable Mention

  • Catrina McKenzie Hacker, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Honorable Mention

  • Maya A. Hale, PhD Student, Cell and Molecular Biology; Recipient

  • Rebecca Marie Haley, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Corey Denise Holman, PhD Student, Cell and Molecular Biology; Honorable Mention

  • Erin Evonne Jean, PhD Student, Immunology; Recipient

  • Parker Lowe LaMascus, PhD Student, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics; Recipient

  • Sonia Irene Lombroso, PhD Student, Pharmacology; Recipient

  • Hannah Loo, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Recipient

  • Elizabeth Mercado Ayon, PhD Student, Cell and Molecular Biology; Recipient

  • Patrick John Mulcahey, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Michael Douglas Murphy, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Recipient

  • Jessica Ann O'Callaghan, PhD Student, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Honorable Mention

  • Jordan Peeples, PhD Student, Economics; Recipient

  • Gianna Perez, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Honorable Mention

  • Catherine Marie Porter, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Elana Pyfrom, PhD Student, Genetics and Gene Regulation; Recipient

  • Jennifer Ramirez, PhD Student, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics; Honorable Mention

  • Janice Mireya Reynaga, PhD Student, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics; Recipient

  • Gabriella Rice, PhD Student, Cell and Molecular Biology; Honorable Mention

  • Hanna Frances Roenfanz, PhD Student, Chemistry; Recipient

  • Marcos Javier Sanchez-Navarro, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Honorable Mention

  • Michael Norman Scaglione, PhD Student, Immunology; Honorable Mention

  • Sarah Jenell Shepherd, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Alexander B. Smith, PhD Student, Cell and Molecular Biology; Honorable Mention

  • Joshua Steve Soto Ocana, PhD Student, Cell and Molecular Biology; Honorable Mention

  • Abriana J Stewart-Height, PhD Student, Electrical and Systems Engineering; Recipient

  • Valerie Jill Sydnor, PhD Student, Neuroscience; Recipient

  • Michael P Tobin, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Recipient

  • Victor Rafael Vazquez Marrero, PhD Student, Immunology; Recipient

  • John Matthew Viola, PhD Student, Bioengineering; Honorable Mention

  • Olivia Abbie Werba, PhD Student, Chemistry; Recipient

  • Cooper James Yerby, PhD Student, Earth and Environmental Science; Honorable Mention

About the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) 

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include 42 Nobel Prize winners, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin, and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Fellows share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are selected. Fellows benefit from a generous three-year annual stipend and educational allowance, opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose.

NSF Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation's technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.

For more information about applying for the NSF GRFP at Penn, visit: www.curf.upenn.edu/content/nsf.

 

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