The Joint Department is proud to announce the winners of the 2024 BME Achievement Awards!
The awards committee acknowledges the following recipients for their remarkable talents, accomplishments and dedication to the department in the following categories:
Staff Service
The committee selected Ms. Vilma Berg from a list of exceptional staff for this year’s Staff Service Award. Vilma is exceptionally helpful, always available to resolve issues and deeply empathetic. Her open-door policy has made her a beloved figure within the department, where each student values her guidance and support. Moreover, Vilma has played a pivotal role in enhancing the visibility of our Biomedical Engineering program through her leadership in organizing significant events such as new Ph.D. recruitment, conference recruitment and campus visitation days.
Faculty Service
The Faculty Service Award for 2024 goes to Dr. Kennita Johnson. Dr. Kennita Johnson is unfailingly involved in student welfare and community engagement. She has represented BME faculty at events to encourage women in STEM (e.g., a Society of Women Engineers panel), driving various community-oriented initiatives in the department and making the department even more welcoming for all students, such as by spearheading a joint retreat for BME and incorporating an opportunity for undergrads to present. She is also a very kind and approachable faculty member.
Faculty Research
Dr. Rahima Benhabbour has received the highest amount of grant funding in the past two years, and her research program continues to demonstrate significant growth and impact on the scientific community. She has received multiple awards, including the 2023 ACS Women Chemists Committee Highlight, the 2023 ARM Lecture Award, the 2022 CRS Member of the Year Award and a David Sokal Award, to name a few. In 2023 alone, she has published eight papers to date in high-impact journals, including Nature Communications, Journal of Controlled Release and Biomaterials. In 2023, she received six major grants, including a new R01 from NIH-NIAID, a Gates Foundation grant and industry, non-profit and government grants totaling over $5.3M. In addition, Dr. Benhabbour is the Founder & Director of her startup company AnelleO and has successfully raised ~$5M in SBIR funding in 2023 to advance their platform technologies for women’s health. Dr. Benhabbour’s mentorship to graduate student’s research has also been extremely successful, with four Ph.D. graduates all landing positions in large pharma (Merck, Gilead) and organizations (FHI 360, UNC) and receiving multiple awards and fellowships (e.g., three NSF fellows, four Abrams scholars, two Lucas Scholars and a T32 trainee). It goes without question that Dr. Rahima Benhabbour has done a lot for the BME Department.
Faculty Teaching and Mentoring
From a list of highly qualified nominees, the committee unanimously decided that the Faculty Award for Teaching and Mentoring be given to Dr. Matt Fisher. Dr. Fisher shows outstanding dedication and support for every graduate student in the BME. He consistently demonstrates a deep commitment to their academic and personal well-being, ensuring they have the necessary resources to succeed. Beyond his individual interactions, Dr. Fisher efficiently manages a substantial volume of administrative tasks, including the prompt approval of necessary paperwork for numerous students, while directing a large research lab as researcher and PI. His ability to maintain high standards in every aspect of his role significantly enhances the quality and reputation of our program.
Post-Doc Research
The Postdoctoral Fellows Awards for Outstanding Research Achievements go to Dr. Woolim Hong and Dr. Sachin Kadian. Dr. Hong is at the end of his second year of post-doc training. Within only two years, Dr. Hong has done excellent work in finding his own research direction by proposing and executing innovative research ideas. Dr. Hong’s innovative research, which earned the prestigious Switzer Research Fellowship in 2023, has significantly advanced user-centered and terrain-adaptable control systems for lower-limb prosthetics.
Dr. Kadian is one of the best research scholars in terms of hard work, diligence and seriousness regarding the profession and assigned tasks. He joined the BME Department in October 2022 and significantly contributed to boosting the department’s research mission. He has already published over eight peer-reviewed journal papers (five first-authored) in reputed high-impact journals, including Applied Physics Reviews, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Nanotechnology, Medcomm, MRS Communications and Talanta Open.
Graduate student Teaching and Mentoring
The Teaching and Mentoring Award goes to Noor Hakam. Noor developed a series of mini lectures for each individual section of a scientific paper (i.e., methods, results, figures, discussion, etc.). Noor has shown to be dedicated to helping students and has always been receptive to constructive criticism and taking on large tasks. It goes without question that Noor is an excellent recipient of this award.