Below you will find information on the 2008-09 Whitaker Program Fellows and Scholars. To get a more detailed picture of their projects, click on the grantee's name to see an abstract of the individual project.
For the directory of 2006-07 Whitaker Fellows and Scholars, Click Here.
For the directory of 2007-08 Whitaker Fellows and Scholars, Click Here.
2008-09 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.
Ms. Jennifer Boyd, 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
Mr. Devin Bridgen, Cornell University
Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, University Hospital Basel
Project Title: Controlled Angiogenesis via Scaffold and VEGF Manipulation in Cellular IVD Substitutes
Ms. Kristy Cloyd, 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
Ms. Stephanie Delgado, 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
Mr. Daniel Goodman, 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
Mr. Bryan Haslam, Brigham Young University
Host Country, Institution: The Netherlands, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Project Title: Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Phase Miscroscopy of Intracellular Dynamics
Ms. Priscilla Hwang, 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
Ms. Gowri Jayaram, 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
Ms. Kathleen Koch, Yale University
Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, ETH Zurich - Institute of Biomechanics
Project Title: The Dffect of Estrogen on Mechanical Load-Induced Bone Remodeling
Ms. Alina Levchuk, 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
Mr. Brandon Markway, Oregon Health&Science University
Host Country, Institution: Australia, University of Queensland
Project Title: Engineering Bioactive Surfaces for Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Maintenance
Mr. Kunal Mehta, University of California, Los AngelesHost Country, Institution: United Kingdom, University of Oxford
Project Title: Nanopore Arrays for rapid DNA Sequencing
Mr. Michael Morley, Illinois Institute of Technology
Host Country, Institution: Colombia, Universidad de Los Andes
Project Title: Redesigning Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P) for Low-Income Communities
Ms. Devjani Saha, Northwestern University
Host Country, Institution: Italy, Italian Institute of Technology (University of Genoa)
Project Title: The Effect of Feedback Dimensionality on Bimanual Training
Ms. Jennifer Shum, 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
Ms. Ashley Wessendorf, University of Illinois
Host Country, Institution: United Kingdom, Cambridge University
Project Title: Masters of Philosophy in Bioscience Enterprise
2008-09 Scholars
The four Whitaker International Scholars are going to three different countries for one to two years during which they will pursue post-doctoral research in biomedical engineering.
Ms. Melissa Gardner, University of Minnesota
Host Country, Institution: Germany, Max Planck Institute
Project Title: In Vitro Analysis of Microtubule Length Regulation During Mitosis
Ms. Grace Li, Brown University
Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, ETH Zurich
Project Title: Engineered Microenvironment with Geometric and Mechanical Constraints to Regulate Stemcell Function
Mr. Clark Meyer, 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
Mrs. Susan Thomas, The Johns Hopkins University
Host Country, Institution: Switzerland, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Project Title: Developing Anticancer Vaccines Using Lymph Node Targeting Nanoparticles