Articles

Congratulations to PhD Graduates

We here congratulate all of our 2019-20 PhD graduates from the BSD.  Each has attained the highest degree awarded, and some have had their extraordinary accomplishments acknowledged through the award of their program's prize for contributions to their field.  Simone Rauch’s outstanding thesis work has additionally been recognized with the BSD Best Dissertation Award.  We also recognize Professor Megan McNerney, nominated by her students for her passion for research and dedication to training, as a recipient of the University’s Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award.



Since we cannot gather in person, we present recorded remarks from Dean Kenneth Polonsky and our featured speaker, Professor Neil Shubin, in a video produced by the UChicago Medicine and Biological Sciences Division Development Office.



For all of you who graduated this academic year, please accept my heartfelt congratulations.  While I greatly look forward to a future ceremony—where we can come together to mark this important occasion in person—now is the time to celebrate your remarkable achievements.  I wish you the very best of fortune, and look forward to staying connected with you as you move on to the next stage of your life and career.  

Victoria Prince, PhD

Dean and Director, Graduate Affairs

Award for Best Dissertation in the Division of the Biological Sciences

Simone Rauch (Winter 2020)

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Boston University, AB, 2015

DISSERTATION: Synthetic Biology Approaches to Study and Control the Transcriptome

ADVISOR: Bryan Dickinson, PhD

Program Dissertation Awards

Gregory Anthony (Summer Quarter 2019)

Medical Physics

Northwestern University, AB, 2014

DISSERTATION: Therapeutic Ultrasound: Improved Image Guidance and Combinatorial Treatments for Recurrent Prostate Cancer

ADVISOR: Steffan Sammet, MD, PhD

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of medical physics



Anastasia E. Beiriger (Spring Quarter 2020)

Development, Regeneration, and Stem Cell Biology

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, BS, 2013

DISSERTATION: Origins and Migration of the Octavolateral Efferent and Facial Branchiomotor Neurons in Zebrafish

ADVISOR: Victoria Prince, PhD

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of developmental, regeneration, and stem cell biology



Lauren Elizabeth Blake (Winter Quarter 2020)

Human Genetics

Duke University, SB, 2013

DISSERTATION: Using Functional Genomics Approaches to Investigate Human Complex Traits and Diseases

ADVISOR: Yoav Gilad, PhD

POSITION: Data Scientist, Alto Neuroscience

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of human genetics



Nathan Paul Buerkle (Winter Quarter 2020)

Neurobiology

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, SB, 2012

DISSERTATION: Evolution of Neural Computation in Color Vision Circuits

ADVISOR: Stephanie Palmer, PhD

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of neurobiology



Wanhao Chi (Spring Quarter 2019)

Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology

Yantai University, SB, 1997

Zhejiang University, SM, 2002

University of Chicago, SM, 2018


DISSERTATION:  Genetic and Neural Mechanisms of PNPO Deficiency in Vitamin B6-Dependent Epilepsy

ADVISOR: Xiaoxi Zhuang, PhD

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of genetics, genomics, and systems biology



David Press (Autumn Quarter 2019)

Public Health Sciences

University of Southern California, SB, 2007

University of Cambridge, MPhil, 2008

DISSERTATION: Individual and Neighborhood Contributions to African American Health Disparities in Bio-Specimen Research Participation, Prostate-Specific Antigen Levels, and Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness

ADVISOR: Habibul Ahsan, MD

POSITION: NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of public health sciences



Simone Rauch (Winter Quarter 2020)

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Boston University, AB, 2015

DISSERTATION: Synthetic Biology Approaches to Study and Control the Transcriptome

ADVISOR: Bryan Dickinson, PhD

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of biochemistry and molecular biophysics



Ashley Rich (Spring Quarter 2020)

Cell and Molecular Biology

University of Evansville, BS, 2013

DISSERTATION: Optogenetic Analysis of Rho family GTPases during Morphogenesis and Polarization

ADIVSOR: Michael Glotzer, PhD

POSITION: Postdoctoral researcher, Duke University

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of cell and molecular biology



Aneesha Suresh Sahu (Autumn Quarter 2019)

Computational Neuroscience

Northwestern University, SB, 2010

Ibid., SM, 2011

DISSERTATION: Sensorimotor Representations of Manual Behavior

ADVISOR: Sliman Bensmaia, PhD

POSITION: Postdoctoral fellow, Northwestern University

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of computational neuroscience



Sriram Sundaravel (Summer Quarter 2019)

Cancer Biology

Illinois Institute of Technology, MS, 2012

DISSERTATION: TBX5: Mechanism of Action of a Signaling Protein DOCK4 in Myelodysplastic Syndromes

ADVISOR: Amittha Wickrema, PhD

POSITION: Research fellow, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

The program award for outstanding performance in the general field of cancer biology