News and Awards
Nominata Award
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is pleased to announce Justin Engel, who was selected by the Graduate School Awards Committee to receive the 2025 Nominata Award for outstanding dissertation research. A fourth-year PhD student in the Cancer Biology Graduate Program, Justin is mentored by Peter Ly, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology. Justin is currently interrogating the mechanisms contributing to genomic rearrangements using unbiased genetic approaches. He discovered a paradoxical role of the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway in cancer genome evolution via chromothripsis, an extreme form of genome instability identified in 30-50% of cancers (Engel JL et al. 2024. Cell 187:6055).
The Awards Committee also recognized Devon Jeltema, a senior PhD student in the Immunology Graduate Program who is studying interferon signaling in the lab of Nan Yan, Ph.D., Professor of Immunology. As Nominata runner-up, Devon will receive a Dean’s Discretionary Award. She also received the 2023 Kirkpatrick Award.
History
The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) created the Nominata Award in 1980 to stimulate academic excellence and research achievement among the advanced graduate students. The award consisted of a monetary prize and a gift certificate from Majors Scientific Books. Today, the Committee on Graduate School Awards, comprised of graduate school faculty, judges the nominees. The recipient receives a monetary award and the honor of presenting their research to the UT Southwestern community within the forum of the University Lecture Series.
Send an Debbie.Conley@utsouthwestern.edu to learn more about the competition.
Brown-Goldstein Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research
The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is pleased to announce that Huabin Zhou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Michael Rosen, Ph.D., in the Department of Biophysics, as the 2025 recipient of the Brown-Goldstein Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Research.
Honoring the contributions of Drs. Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein to the training of the next generation of scientists, this award is the highest honor for research accomplishment bestowed by the Graduate School on a postdoctoral research fellow. Chosen by a committee of graduate school faculty members, the winner receives a monetary prize as well as the opportunity to present the University Lecture.
Every human cell faces a remarkable challenge—compacting two meters of DNA into a nucleus just microns wide. How this impressive feat is achieved holds the key to deciphering gene regulation, DNA repair, and the consequences of errors that can lead to disease. How one-dimensional genetic information folds into a three-dimensional structure to enable precise regulation, however, remains largely unknown. Dr. Zhou’s research has focused on uncovering the architecture of chromatin across scales, from nanometers to microns. By harnessing the power of cryo-electron tomography, he is beginning to see the intricate details of chromatin organization with unprecedented clarity, revealing new insights into the molecular determinants of genome structure. This work not only deepens insight into chromatin’s physical structure and properties but also sheds light on how its dynamic organization influences cellular function and impacts the blueprint of life.
In addition, award finalist Shashank Shekhar, Ph.D., a former postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Helmet Kramer, Ph.D., in the Department of Neuroscience, has received a Dean’s Discretionary Award. His research focused on understanding how neuronal structural plasticity is regulated and executed in the Drosophila visual system. Dr. Shekhar has recently transitioned to a faculty position at the Center for Biomedical Research-SGPGI, in Lucknow, India.
Please support our excellent trainees by attending the University Lecture to congratulate them and hear Dr. Zhou’s University Lecture entitled “Illuminating the Hidden Structure of Chromatin” on Wednesday, April 23rd at 4:00 PM in NG3.112.
Send an Debbie.Conley@utsouthwestern.edu to learn more about the competition.
Ida M. Green Award
Please join me in congratulating Yehui Sun as the winner of the UT Southwestern Medical Foundation’s 2025 Ida M. Green Award.
Ms. Sun is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program and is mentored by Daniel Siegwart, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering. She has demonstrated scientific excellence through her groundbreaking research on lipid nanoparticle technology for gene editing applications, resulting in a first-author publication in Science that was highlighted on the cover and recognized by multiple scientific journals. Her scholarly excellence is further evidenced by 16 publications in prestigious journals, the Carol and Robert Eberhart Endowed Scholarship in Engineering and Clinical Sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a scholarship with an invited short talk presentation at the recent Keystone Conference on Precision Genome Engineering in Ireland.
Beyond her scholarly accomplishments, Ms. Sun has shown outstanding citizenship as the Director of Engagement and board advisor for the Biotechnology Club, where she launched over 10 impactful biotech seminars reaching more than 500 people, providing invaluable networking and skill-building opportunities for fellow students and trainees. She also facilitated the "She-E-O series" to empower women in science leadership and organized alumni panels to provide career guidance. Her research excellence, combined with her commitment to advancing both scientific knowledge and community support, makes Yehui Sun an exemplary Ida M. Green awardee who embodies the mission and values of UT Southwestern and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
The award will be presented at a private ceremony that will include guests of the recipient, graduate school faculty and staff, members of WISMAC, representatives of Southwestern Medical Foundation and of the Cecil Green Estate.
The Ida M. Green Award was established in 1987 with a bequest from Mrs. Green to Southwestern Medical Foundation. With encouragement from her husband, Cecil Green, the award was established to acknowledge a female graduate student in the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to research excellence, the well-being of fellow students, and exceptional community service. The honor comes with a monetary award provided by the Women in Science and Medicine Advisory Committee (WISMAC) and Southwestern Medical Foundation.
Send an Debbie.Conley@utsouthwestern.edu to learn more about the competition.
William F. and Grace H. Kirkpatrick Award
On behalf of the Graduate School Awards Committee, we are pleased to announce the recipient of the William F. and Grace H. Kirkpatrick Award is Justin Engel.
The William F. and Grace H. Kirkpatrick Award is given annually to the graduate student who submitted the most scientifically meritorious NIH F or equivalent fellowship grant application during the prior academic year, as judged by the Graduate School Awards Committee. The award provides funds to kickstart the proposed research, irrespective of the funding agency’s decision.
Justin Engel, who was selected by the Graduate School Awards Committee to receive the 2025 Nominata Award for outstanding dissertation research. A fourth-year PhD student in the Cancer Biology Graduate Program, Justin is mentored by Peter Ly, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology. Justin is currently interrogating the mechanisms contributing to genomic rearrangements using unbiased genetic approaches. He discovered a paradoxical role of the Fanconi anemia DNA repair pathway in cancer genome evolution via chromothripsis, an extreme form of genome instability identified in 30-50% of cancers (Engel JL et al. 2024. Cell 187:6055).
Send an Debbie.Conley@utsouthwestern.edu to learn more about the competition.
