JUPITER, Fla.—Eleven graduate students and two postdoctoral researchers at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology have been awarded prestigious donor-funded fellowships in the 2025-26 academic year.
Fellowships provide critical financial support that allows early-career scientists to fully focus on their research. These awards allow scientists to pursue projects that have the potential to advance human health and address some of today’s most challenging diseases.
“These fellowships give our researchers the time and space to pursue their most exciting ideas,” said Courtney Miller, Ph.D., Director of Academic Affairs. “By supporting our graduate students and postdocs, our donors are helping fuel discoveries that could have a lasting impact on human health. We are deeply grateful for their generosity, which gives our researchers the support and confidence to fully pursue their work.”
Support from donors plays a vital role in advancing The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute’s mission of advancing human health through biomedical research, drug discovery and clinical studies, while providing outstanding educational opportunities to inspire and train the next generation of scientists.
These are the institute’s 2025-2026 named fellowships:
In a historic gift to The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute in 2022, Dr. Herbert Wertheim established Wertheim Graduate Research Fellowships to recognize and support outstanding students. These awards aim to celebrate and promote excellence in advanced thesis research across the Institute. This year’s recipients of the Wertheim Graduate Research Fellowships are:
- Cameron Douglas from the lab of Ciaran Seath, Ph.D.
- Anthony Hans from the labs of Ben Shen, Ph.D. and Luis Carvalho, Ph.D.
- Yilin Jia from the lab of Matthew Disney, Ph.D.
- Ulas Kaplan from the lab of Ezgi Hacisuleyman, Ph.D.
- Andrew McAuley from the lab of Susana Valente, Ph.D.
- Soichiro Mori from the lab of Masayuki Wasa, Ph.D.
- Changran Niu from the lab of Baoji Xu, Ph.D.
The Glenn W. Bailey Foundation supports outstanding graduate students studying on The Wertheim UF Scripps Campus through the Cornelia T. and Glenn W. Bailey Endowed Graduate Education Fellowships. The three-year fellowship was awarded to Elizabeth Lekah from the lab of Ryoma Hattori, Ph.D. The one-year fellowship was awarded to Ryan Mitchell from the lab of Gavin Rumbaugh, Ph.D.
The Elmore Impact for Good Fellowship is awarded to an outstanding Ph.D. candidate studying in the lab of Thomas Kodadek, Ph.D. This year, the fellowship was awarded to Allison Goss.
The BallenIsles Men’s Golf Association Fellowship is awarded by the BallenIsles Men’s Golf Association to a scholar on The Wertheim UF Scripps campus dedicated to making progress in prostate cancer research. This year’s fellowship was awarded to graduate student Matthew Mann from the lab of Patrick Griffin, Ph.D.
The Ed and Jane Greenberg Postdoctoral Fellowship in Parkinson’s Disease is awarded to postdoctoral students showing great promise in the field of Parkinson’s research. This fellowship was awarded to Wan Gi Byun, Ph.D., and Takahiro Ishi, Ph.D., both from the lab of Matthew Disney, Ph.D.
Addressing a world of unmet medical needs:
The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology is a nonprofit academic research institute dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing health challenges. The institute unites world-class expertise in chemistry, biology, neuroscience, immunology and technology with leading-edge drug discovery expertise, a premier graduate program and best-in-class infrastructure, to transform today’s innovative ideas into tomorrow’s lifesaving treatments. To learn more about how you can support transformative research, contact The Wertheim UF Scripps Office of Advancement at (561) 228-2055, or please click here.
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