Baxter Young Investigator Awards - 2021 Winners

Baxter Young Investigator Awards - 2021 Winners

To celebrate and promote innovative research, Baxter sponsors an annual award program open to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The 2021 winners are listed below:

FIRST-TIER WINNERS

Maha Alafeef
Graduate Student
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Advisor: Dipanjan Pan
Research Topic: SepSENSE, A Biosensing Platform for Synchronous Detection of Pathogen and Immune Response for the Rapid Sepsis Diagnosis

Badrinath Jagannath
Graduate Student
The University of Texas at Dallas
Advisor: Shalini Prasad
Research Topic: Real-time Tracking of Infection using Wearable Sweat Sensor

Sarah Wu
Graduate Student
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor: Xuanhe Zhao
Research Topic: A Multifunctional Origami Patch for Minimally Invasive Tissue Sealing

Jingjing Wu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Advisor: Xuanhe Zhao
Research Topic: Barnacle-glue-inspired hemostatic paste for rapid and coagulation-independent hemostasis

Jayoung Kim
Postdoctoral Fellow
Harvard University
Advisor: Samir Mitragotri
Research Topic: Deep Eutectic Solvent-enabled Intravenous Formulation of Cancer Drugs

Ryan Devine
Graduate Student
University of Georgia
Advisor: Hitesh Handa
Research Topic: Mimicking Blood Vessels: Dual Action Surface for Improvement of Extracorporeal Devices 

 

SECOND-TIER WINNERS

Jean Won Kwak
Graduate Student
Northwestern University
Advisor: John Rogers
Research Topic: A Wireless, Multimodal Sensor for Continuous, Personalized Monitoring of Wound Management

Indrajit Srivastava
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Advisor: Shuming Nie
Research Topic: Rapid, Ultrasensitive, and Quantitative Detection of Fibrinogen Concentration in Blood Plasma using Biomimetic SERS Nanoparticles Coated with Red Blood Cell Membranes

Niranjan Vijayakumar
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Iowa
Advisor: Suresh M.L. Raghavan
Research Topic: Flushing pressures as a novel safety parameter for intermittent clearance of arterial line conservation systems

Yeonsik Choi
Postdoctoral Fellow
Northwestern University
Advisor: John Rogers
Research Topic: Fully implantable and bioresorbable cardiac pacemakers without leads or batteries

Yuanwen Jiang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Stanford University
Advisor: Zhenan Bao
Research Topic: Wireless smart bandage for closed-loop chronic wound management

Zhenwei Ma 
Graduate Student
McGill University
Advisor: Jianyu Li
Research Topic: Bioinspired tough gel sheathed sutures for advanced surgical care

Shelby Yuan 
Graduate Student
Northwestern University
Advisor: Daniel Allar
Research Topic: TGF-β1 Mimetic Peptide Amphiphiles for Cartilage Regeneration

Thinh Le 
Graduate Student
University of Connecticut
Advisor: Thanh Nguyen
Research Topic: Biodegradable Piezoelectric Ultrasonic Transducer

Max Distler
Graduate Student
Northwestern University
Advisor: Chad Mirkin
Research Topic: DNA Dendrons as Agents for Intracellular Delivery

Siyu He
Graduate Student
Columbia University
Advisor: Kam Leong
Research Topic: Blood vessel organoids as a transformative platform for evaluating the radiation injury and countermeasure drug efficacy

Meilyn Sylvestre
Graduate Student
University of Washington
Advisor: Suzie Pun
Research Topic: Enhancing safety of PEGylated therapeutics with D-amino acid peptides

Max Wang
Graduate Student
Northwestern University
Advisor: Nathan Gianneschi
Research Topic: Development of Rationally Designed Cancer Vaccines Using Protein-Like Polymers (PLPs)