Two Weldon Students Take Top National BMES Honors

Jamie Brugnano, Weldon Graduate Student
Jamie Brugnano, Weldon Graduate Student
Akhilesh Gaharwar, Weldon Alumni (PhD 2011)
Akhilesh Gaharwar, Weldon Alumni (PhD 2011)
Winners of the BMES 2011 Graduate and Undergraduate Student Awards (Extended Abstract) were announced last month. The BMES Awards Committee selects students on the basis of scientific merit, originality, and quality of written presentation. Jamie Brugnano and Akhilesh Gaharwar were among the honorees for this year.

Gaharwar's winning abstract was titled "Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Silicate Cross-linked Poly(ethylene Oxide)". This project was in collaboration between Dr. Akhilesh Gaharwar (Prof Gudrun Schmidt) and Dr. Vipuil Kishore (Prof. Ozan Akkus). Dr. Akhilesh K. Gaharwar, is currently a Postdoctoral Associate with Prof. Robert Langer (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Prof. Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard University). Dr. Gaharwar received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University in 2011.

Brugnano will present her work on Characterizing Intracellular Delivery of an MK2 Inhibitor Using Cell Penetrating Peptides. She was under the tutelage of Dr. Brandon Seal, and is now working under Dr. Alyssa Panitch.

Graduate Student awards include a certificate, a complimentary registration for the Annual Meeting, and a stipend of $500 to assist with travel expenses. The awards will be presented to the awardees at the BMES Annual Business Meeting in Hartford, CT, October 12-15. Please join us in congratulating Akhilesh and Jamie on their honors.