麻豆村

Ten members of the 麻豆村 community have been selected as grant recipients for the U.S. Fulbright Student Program's 2024-25 competition cycle. The program, in partnership with over 140 countries, allows grantees to conduct research, pursue a course of study at the graduate level or teach English abroad in one country of their choosing.

The grantees include Kristin Daniel, Ian Gimino, Katie Hart, Adrian Lapadat, Jose (Paul) Molina, Zeynep Ozkaya, Shaun Ranad茅, Devon Renfroe, Ben Therrien and Matthew Turetsky.

Since the program's inception in 1946, Carnegie Mellon has seen over 100 Tartans become Fulbright Scholars. The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development at Carnegie Mellon supports students and alumni in the application process each year.

Kristin Daniel

Growing up in Detroit, Kristin Daniel was inspired by the water crisis in nearby Flint, Michigan, to work in health research, driven to improve equitable access to health care.聽

鈥淚 decided to become a biomedical engineer to use my inclination toward health research to help people,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want to make it so that a baby does not have a worse chance of surviving because they grew up 30 minutes north.鈥�

She was led by this ambition to study聽 补苍诲听biomedical engineering(opens in new window) at Carnegie Mellon鈥檚聽, and she graduated in 2023. While at 麻豆村, she joined the Macrophage Therapeutics Lab, led by principal investigator聽.

Daniel established a connection between the Macrophage Therapeutics Lab and researchers in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom. She will travel there with her Fulbright to study preeclampsia, a complication that can occur during pregnancy. Not much is currently known about preeclampsia due to inequities in reproductive health research, so during her Fulbright, Daniel hopes to 鈥済ain a perspective on social determinants of health and other economic impacts that affect preeclampsia.鈥� Infant and maternal mortality is lower in the United Kingdom than in the United States, and Daniel wants to research possible reasons for that disparity.

When she has finished her work in Birmingham, Daniel hopes that the experience will help her achieve a Ph.D. and run her own research laboratory.

鈥淚 am enthused by the possibility of global collaboration on these issues,鈥� she said.

Ian Gimino

Ian Gimino, who graduated with a degree in聽chemical engineering, has been selected to research immunotherapy treatment devices in Munich, Germany.聽

He will study at the Technical University of Munich, working with the translational cancer research center聽 and the university hospital Klinikum Rechts der Isar. There, he will work on devices that can produce nanovesicles, or small organic structures that deliver drugs to cells. In particular, he hopes to improve immunotherapy treatments for head and neck cancers, which are difficult to treat with current methods.

Ian is interested in applying engineering principles to medical questions, so the focus of the lab he will be joining along with the strong German culture of Bavaria made Munich 鈥渆asy to choose鈥� during his Fulbright application.

He was 鈥渆lated鈥� to be selected for the award. He credits his 麻豆村 experience for giving him crucial problem-solving skills, and he thanks the supportive community of faculty and staff who helped him search for the right location and project. 鈥淭he scholarship will provide invaluable insights for understanding the difference between U.S. and German health care systems along with being in an environment with extreme engineering expertise,鈥� he said.

Katie Hart

Katie Hart graduated with her bachelor鈥檚 degree in聽civil and environmental engineering(opens in new window) with an additional major in聽engineering and public policy(opens in new window). She will use her Fulbright to study for her master鈥檚 degree at the Ostbayrische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden in Amberg, Germany.

There, she will continue learning about environmental engineering and public policy, with a special focus on clean energy. She is interested in Germany鈥檚 energy policy and how they have been transitioning toward more renewable sources of energy. They have had an interesting transition, she said, as they have had to produce more coal to make up for energy lost as nuclear power plants are decommissioned, and Hart wants to know what the United States can understand from this experience. She wants to collaborate with energy policy experts across the world to learn how the world can transition to clean energy at the international level in order to mitigate climate change.

Her interest in clean energy was sparked by a research experience and further developed by classes both in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She also studied abroad in Rome last spring: 鈥淚t was an amazing experience that gave me a taste of living and learning in a new country,鈥� she said.

Earlier this year,聽she was honored with the George Washington Award(opens in new window), recognizing her academic excellence and leadership.

鈥淚 think many 麻豆村 students would understand the experience of holding themselves to high academic and professional standards, and we might not always stop and take the time to feel proud of what we鈥檝e accomplished, whether it reaches our standards or not,鈥� Hart said. 鈥淩eceiving the Fulbright is a reminder to me to take time and celebrate my time in college and what I have done, as well as thank my mentors, professors, family and friends who had such an impact on my time here.鈥�

Adrian Lapadat

Adrian Lapadat graduated with a master of arts in professional writing from the聽Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window) in 2023, and was awarded the Fulbright scholarship to conduct research on emigration from聽Bac膬u county in Romania.

鈥淢any Romanians, like my parents, leave to work abroad,鈥� said Lapadat. 鈥淢ost don't come all the way over to the United States, but that distance is still something that's very hard to cope with, both for those who leave and those who stay behind.鈥�

Lapadat plans to conduct a series of interviews to shed light on the material and psychological impact of emigration on those who stay in the home country. He likens this to a qualitative psychological research approach that also has a linguistic component.

Lapadat鈥檚 goal is to use his writing and research skills to conduct thorough research into this matter and craft more creative accounts of these emigration stories.

鈥淚'm interested in applying my writing and research skills to something I care about,鈥� said Lapadat. 鈥淢ass emigration doesn't just affect countries like Romania ... it has large consequences for countries like Bulgaria, Serbia 鈥� really, the entire Balkan region.鈥�

Paul Molina

Paul Molina is a Salvadoran artist and designer who graduated this spring from the with a master of fine arts degree in scenic design. His belief in the power of space, story and theater has guided his work on stage and will be the focus of the creative project for which he received a Fulbright research grant to Mexico.聽

Starting in September, Molina will spend nine months in Mexico City working on a public art installation responding to the family displacement and gentrification caused by recent Airbnb rentals to digital nomads.聽

鈥淎t 4 years old, I was transforming home furniture into magically escapist pillow forts with the help of mosaic blankets, mismatched chairs and glittering trinkets,鈥� Molina said. 鈥淚 have always enjoyed creating imaginative spaces from everyday found objects.鈥�

With the addition of his master鈥檚 in scenic design to his bachelor鈥檚 degree in interior architecture, Molina aims to create narrative spaces of childhood play 鈥� in the form of playgrounds, immersive environments and installations 鈥� that will help facilitate organic curiosity, exploration and surprises for children and adults alike.聽

During his time at 麻豆村, Molina designed the sets for productions including 鈥淎 Little Night Music鈥� and 鈥淏abel鈥� in the School of Drama and the opera 鈥淟ooking at You鈥� in the School of Music(opens in new window). He is also the recipient of the 2024 Cody Renard Richard Scholarship, which supports the next generation of theater-makers of color working behind the scenes.聽

Zeynep Ozkaya

Zeynep Ozkaya, who graduated this year with a degree in聽, will be traveling to the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany to study deep brain stimulation.

Ozkaya has a strong interest in neuroscience and how it intersects with electrical engineering. 鈥溾�嬧�婭 want to work within a field that allows me to make a strong impact on both scientific discovery and patient lives,鈥� she said. While at 麻豆村, she worked as a research assistant for the labs of both聽Jana Kainerstorfer(opens in new window) 补苍诲听Marlene Behrmann(opens in new window), and these research experiences have prepared her for the intensive research she will do in Stuttgart.

The Fulbright will not be her first time studying in Stuttgart; she researched at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems last summer through the聽International Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship(opens in new window). That experience is why she applied for a Fulbright in Germany, in order to continue the research project she began then. She will be researching deep brain stimulation with magnetic nanoparticles in order to help people suffering from diseases such as epilepsy or Parkinson鈥檚 disease.聽

When medication does not work or if it causes negative side effects, physicians often try to treat these patients with deep brain stimulation. However, this treatment requires an invasive surgery for a deep brain implant. 鈥淭hrough working on less invasive DBS mechanisms (such as magnetic nanoparticles), I hope to contribute to the body of work that could revolutionize non-drug-dependent treatment for neurodegenerative disorders,鈥� she said. She hopes to use her research to learn more about deep brain stimulation and develop better treatments for patients with neurodegenerative disorders.

鈥淭he Fulbright Scholarship is a great opportunity for me to further explore my research interests while experiencing a different culture,鈥� she said. 鈥淎n exchange of different ideas and perspectives is crucial to scientific advancement, and this scholarship will enable me to contribute to an exchange of knowledge between different cultures and foster collaboration.鈥�

Shaun Ranad茅

Shaun Ranad茅, an alumnus of three 麻豆村 colleges, will be headed to Nepal for his Fulbright project. He graduated in 2016 with a master鈥檚 degree in聽biomedical engineering, and before that, he earned two bachelor鈥檚 degrees: one in聽biological sciences(opens in new window) and the other in聽Japanese studies(opens in new window). He is currently a third-year medical student in New York.

In Nepal, he will treat gestational diabetes by implementing continuous glucose monitoring. Nepal has a 20% higher rate of gestational diabetes than neighboring countries, and the government has prioritized treating it, which made it an ideal place for him to implement telemonitoring to improve the health of mothers and infants. In addition, he has local connections to the area, so he said he looks forward to seeing its natural beauty and participating in cultural and religious festivals.

Gestational diabetes is a personal issue for Ranad茅, since it has affected the lives of many people he knows. 鈥淚 am motivated by the potential to level the playing field and give children a healthy start in life.鈥�

He was involved in the 麻豆村 community during his time as a student: beyond his three degrees, he also co-founded 麻豆村鈥檚 chapter of聽. He said he believes 鈥渕edical knowledge, cultural competence and compassion are essential for effective physicians,鈥� and this ethos has informed his degree choices and other activities, including this Fulbright.聽

He said his interdisciplinary 麻豆村 experience across three colleges prepared him for his work, which has not just included medical school, but also in fields such as biotechnology investment consulting, biotechnology intellectual property law, and in cellular therapeutics research and development.

鈥淭he supportive environment and rigorous curriculum have equipped me with the skills and confidence to engage with key opinion leaders, subject matter experts and practicing physicians,鈥� he said.

He has also been awarded an NIH Fogarty Fellowship in Public Health and the Northern Pacific Global Health Fellowship. 鈥淩eceiving the Fulbright Scholarship is a recognition of my continued commitment to serving others through health care and as a future physician,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Fulbright experience and its alumni network are helping me become a public health leader, demonstrating that health concerns are universal and that current standards of care should be accessible to all including rural settings.鈥�

Devon Renfroe

Devon Renfroe, who earned her master of arts in applied second language acquisition from the Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics(opens in new window), plans to continue her passion for the Korean language as part of her Fulbright experience.聽

After graduation, Renfroe moved to Korea and taught English in a middle school while simultaneously teaching herself Korean.聽

鈥淚 found that learning the language allowed me to embody these different identities that I don鈥檛 have access to in English,鈥� said Renfroe. 鈥淚 can be someone in a Korean context that I can鈥檛 be in English 鈥� that whole process was really meaningful to me.鈥�

As a result of this experience, Renfroe realized that she wanted to combine her love of teaching with her newfound interest in the Korean language.聽

She plans on studying how the Korean language is structured around the relational aspects of communication.聽

鈥淜orean is a language that has a really complex and interesting honorific system 鈥� the way you choose which of these features to use (these relational factors of the language) have a really big impact on how you relate to other people,鈥� said Renfroe. 鈥淚 want to analyze how first鈥搇anguage and second鈥搇anguage Korean speakers relate to each other and interact with each other using these specific features of the language.鈥澛�

Renfroe plans to fold her teaching experience and her time in Korea into a Ph.D. project to explore how learning a language can be a transformative experience.

鈥淭his project will hopefully be my dissertation,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he idea is to 鈥� through mostly recorded conversations between first鈥搇anguage Korean speakers and second鈥搇anguage Korean speakers 鈥� analyze how they use particular features of the language.鈥澛�

Renfroe will be conducting her study at Chonnam National University.

鈥淚 love teaching, and I love language so much that it鈥檚 always been fun to be in a classroom where that鈥檚 the center of attention,鈥� said Renfroe. 鈥淟anguage is such a powerful tool for people to understand each other cross-culturally.鈥�

Ben Therrien

Ben Therrien, a current Ph.D. candidate pursuing a joint degree in civil and environmental engineering and in聽engineering and public policy, will be traveling across the European Union on his Fulbright award.

There, he will be completing his dissertation, in which he seeks to understand agricultural nanotechnology through two main perspectives: through understanding how the technology is developed, and through investigating how risks and policies associated with the new technology are communicated. In particular, he will be working on the last chapter of his dissertation, in which he will speak with stakeholders across Europe to see how his communication strategy performs and what risks the stakeholders are sensitive to. He will compare these communication sensitivities to those of U.S. stakeholders, because, he said, 鈥淒eveloping a unified communication and policy framework for new technologies, like nanotechnology, can help support our mutual food security goals into the future.鈥�

Therrien will work with researchers from primarily three universities: the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Sweden, Ludwig Maximilian Institute of Munich in Germany, and 艁贸d藕 University of Technology in Poland. Germany and Poland have prominent agricultural sectors, and Sweden has a history of risk communication work in agricultural and food sciences.

Therrien was inspired to apply for the Fulbright because of his experience as a joint-degree student, which has taught him to appreciate how technology is developed along with the roles of risk communication and policies regarding that technology. 鈥淚 think that informing the public about science and technology is an important part of engineering,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y Fulbright project leverages my technical understanding of nanotechnology and allows me to put my behavioral and decision science training into practice as I work toward my science communication goals.鈥�

He thanked the 麻豆村 community for the support that led to the award. 鈥淏eing a Fulbright Schuman Scholar is an incredible honor,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 owe a huge debt of gratitude to my advisers in EPP and CEE for supporting my research goals, to 麻豆村's Office of Research and Scholar Development for helping me throughout the application process, and to my peers who inspire me to take on new challenges!鈥�

Matthew Turetsky

Matthew Turetsky, a Ph.D. student in the聽History Department(opens in new window), will conduct research regarding the cultural, social and economic factors surrounding the history of quinoa.聽

Quinoa holds a special place in Turetsky鈥檚 mind and heart. He traveled to Peru in 2019 and encountered agricultural displays in the many small villages. Unlike the homogenization found in supermarkets in the West, the displays highlighted the diversity of crops grown in the region.聽

鈥淭he colors (of the different quinoa varieties) captivated me right away,鈥� said Turetsky. 鈥淔rom then on, I was fascinated by this question and the issue of diversity of crops.鈥�

These lingering questions increased his curiosity. When the opportunity of the Fulbright award came along, he knew what he wanted to study. He received funds for three months of research in Bolivia and seven months of research in Peru.

鈥淢y research focuses on the conservation and commodification of quinoa,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eru and Bolivia are the two most prominent countries that are producing (quinoa) today, and for centuries have been the leading producers 鈥� and until about the 1980s and 1990s, it was a subsistence crop. It only recently became an international food as we know it today.鈥�

According to Turetsky, the recent buzz surrounding quinoa is what drove him to focus particularly on this crop.

Turetsky aims to use his Fulbright award to further investigate and answer the questions surrounding how farmers in the region managed to conserve the diverse varieties of quinoa in the face of changing economic, political and social conditions in the 20th century, mainly from the 1930s-1980s.