The Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health (BIPH) supports several programs—both on campus and with clinicians—that help undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Notre Dame grow as researchers.

This month, the BIPH welcomes its cohort of research fellows for the summer of 2023.

BIPH director Paul Bohn said, “We would like to congratulate and welcome this new cohort of summer fellows. We are pleased to offer support as they develop as scholars, and we are excited for their contributions to the community and intellectual life of the Institute this summer.”

Bohn, who is the Arthur J. Schmitt Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, added “I also want to thank all of the graduate students who submitted applications. We received a large number of truly excellent proposals, and that is a testament to Notre Dame students’ talent and also to their commitment to science and engineering that creates a more inclusive and individualized approach to health.”

The 2023 BIPH summer fellowship recipients are:

• Gustavo Da Silva (Advisor: Cristian Koepfli, assistant professor, Biological Sciences)
• Eva Hall (Advisor: Donny Hanjaya-Putra, assistant professor, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering; Concurrent assistant professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)
• Hyunsu Jeon (Advisor: Yichun Wang, assistant professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)
• Alyssa La Bella (Advisor: Ana Lidia Flores-Mireles, Janet C. and Jeffrey A. Hawk Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences)
• Guoqiang Liu (Advisor: Xin Lu, associate professor, Biological Sciences)
• Heather Shepherd (Advisor: Holly Goodson, professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry)

In addition, two students will receive BIPH’s endowed fellowships:

The O’Brien Family Endowment for Excellence Fellowship

Sono Kumar (Advisor: Hsueh-Chia Chang, Bayer Corporation Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; professor, Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering) was selected to receive the O'Brien Endowment for Excellence Graduate Fellowship.

The O’Brien Family Endowment for Excellence Fellowship awards summer funding to one Notre Dame graduate student researching the development of biomedical tools and techniques, with a preference for research that addresses Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases.

The Leiva Graduate Fellowship in Precision Medicine

Yuting Zhang (Advisor: Xin Lu, associate professor, Biological Sciences) was awarded the Leiva Graduate Fellowship in Precision Medicine.

The Leiva Graduate Fellowship in Precision Medicine awards summer funding to one outstanding Notre Dame student showing promise in the area of precision medicine research, acknowledging academic achievement, character, and qualities of leadership.

Feinstein Fellows

In addition to its on-campus fellows, the BIPH partners with the Feinstein Institute

for Medical Research (FIMR), the research arm of Northwell Health in New York, to enable

Notre Dame students to gain valuable experience conducting research in a world-class clinical

setting. This summer, the Institute will provide stipends, travel support, and housing support to three undergraduate students, each of whom will work with mentors at the Feinstein Institute.

This year’s Feinstein Fellows are:

• Lily Darmen, a biochemistry major. (Feinstein Institute mentor: Kevin J. Tracey, President and CEO and the Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research)
• Grace Hsu, an economics and pre-health studies major. (Feinstein Institute mentor: Lionel Blanc, professor at Feinstein’s Institute of Molecular Medicine)
• Adison Steinke, a biochemistry major (Feinstein Institute mentor: Betsy Barnes, professor, Feinstein’s Institute of Molecular Medicine)

The Berry Family Foundation Graduate Fellowships

This summer the Institute also welcomes two students who were selected to receive Berry Family Foundation Graduate Fellowships for 2023-24. This year’s fellows are:

• Thomas Moran (Advisor: Shaun Lee, Monahan Family Associate Professor, Biological Sciences).
• Simon Weaver (Advisor: Matthew Champion, Associate Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry)

For more information on the fellowships and other BIPH research opportunities, please visit precisionhealth.nd.edu/opportunities/.

About the Berthiaume Institute

The Berthiaume Institute for Precision Health at Notre Dame seeks to prevent and treat disease, promote wellness, and reduce health disparities by developing new tools to understand human variability at the molecular and cellular levels. Institute members conduct research into the molecular, cellular, and environmental factors underlying each person’s health, particularly those in underserved populations, and work to ensure new discoveries, data, and technologies benefit all populations.

Contact:

Brett Beasley / Writer and Editorial Program Manager

Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame

bbeasle1@nd.edu / 574.631.8183

research.nd.edu / @UNDResearch

About Notre Dame Research:

The University of Notre Dame is a private research and teaching university inspired by its Catholic mission. Located in South Bend, Indiana, its researchers are advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, education, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world. For more information, please see research.nd.edu or @UNDResearch.

Originally published by Brett Beasley at precisionhealth.nd.edu on May 30, 2023.