Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship in Biology and Medicine

The Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship in Biology and Medicine recognizes outstanding scholarship and innovation in the life sciences.

Brown University has named the inaugural recipients of the Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship in Biology and Medicine, a new fellowship made possible through a generous, multi-year donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation.

The eight Blavatnik Family Fellows were selected based on outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated potential for producing original research that advances scientific knowledge and understanding in the basic and clinical life sciences. The fellows’ research is representative of a diverse array of scientific disciplines.

Each fellow will receive one academic year of support, as well as a research fund.   

Brown Biology in the News

Blavatnik Family Fellows 2024

  • Breanna Demistichas

    Breanna Demestichas

    Breanna Demestichas (she/her), a student in the Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry program, studies the regulation of the tumor-immune microenvironment during breast cancer metastasis. Her mentor is Sendurai Mani, PhD.

  • Alice Lin

    Alice Lin

    Alice Lin (she/her), a student in the Neuroscience graduate program, studies the relationship between neural metabolism and neural activity using animals models of a rare genetic disorder known as SLC13A5 epilepsy with mentor Judy Liu, MD, PhD.

  • Noe Mercado

    Noe Mercado

    Noe Mercado (he/him) is a student in the Pathobiology graduate program, where he is examining the role of human cytomegalovirus in brain cancer malignancy and progression to develop novel targeted therapeutic approaches with his mentor, Sean Lawler, PhD. This is Noe's second year as a Blavatnik Family Fellow.

  • Kimberly Meza

    Kimberly Meza

    Kimberly Meza (she/her), a student in the Pathobiology graduate program, studies the oncogenic and therapeutic resistance mechanisms of PIM in renal cell carcinoma with Sheldon Holder, MD, PhD

  • Nicole Moody

    Nicole Moody

    Nicole Moody (they/them), a student in the Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology graduate program, studies the evolution and neurobiology of complex social interactions, focusing specifically on territorial interactions in free-living woodpeckers, with mentor Matthew Fuxjager, PhD.

  • David Peede

    David Peede

    David Peede (he/him), a student in the Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology program, studies the impact of genetic admixture (exchange of genes between populations) in human evolution with mentor Emilia Huerta-Sanchez, PhD

  • Erin Skeens

    Erin Skeens

    Erin Skeens (she/her), a student in Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology and Biochemistry, is investigating the allosteric mechanisms and regulation of CRISPR-Cas9 and MIF, respectively, to improve therapeutic options with mentor George Lisi, PhD