Past Winners
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: SAC Auditorium
Date: Friday, March 13, 2026 from 10 am to 3 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
| 1st | Myeongjin | Bae | Neurology | Why Balance Gets Harder with Age: What the Brain Tells Us |
| 2nd | Anthony | Bogetti | Laufer Center | The Tiny Things That Do Everything Inside You |
| 3rd | Anwesha | Sil | Radiology | A Smarter Way to Deliver Cancer Treatment |
| People's Choice | Shafeeque | Mohammedali | Neurology | Why Some People Age Faster: The Gene–Metabolism Connection |
Spotlight 2026 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
| Yasmeen Abdelaziz | Chemistry | Giving Waste Another Chance! |
| Myeongjin Bae | Neurology | Why Balance Gets Harder with Age: What the Brain Tells Us |
| Anthony Bogetti | Laufer Center | The Tiny Things That Do Everything Inside You |
| Yixin Li | Radiology | Seeing Through the Forest: Better 3D Breast Cancer Imaging |
| Paul Griffin | Chemistry | Toward a Colorful Future with Iron and Cyanide |
| Nihal Medatwal | Cancer Center | A Tiny Lipid That Controls Cancer Cell Behavior |
| Shafeeque Mohammedali | Neurology | Why Some People Age Faster: The Gene–Metabolism Connection |
| Anwesha Sil | Radiology | A Smarter Way to Deliver Cancer Treatment |
| Aaron Sloutski | Materials Science and Chemical Engineering | Soft Solution for a Hard Problem |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Wang Center Lecture Halls 1 and 2
Date: Friday, March 28, 2025 from 10 am to 2 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
| 1st | Antonio | Novaes | Medicine | Turning Off Kidney Damage, Turning On Hope |
| 2nd | Lissa | Fortes Soares | Public Health | How to be Stronger in Older Age |
| 3rd | Jonathan | Plessis-Belair | Radiology | Brain Aging on Trial |
Spotlight 2025 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Varghese Babu | Materials Science and Chemical Engineering | A Cold Hard Truth |
| Monoj Das | Medicine | Rewriting Genetic Recipes: Highlighting a Cure for Kidney Disease |
| Ishrat Dollan | SoMAS | Rain of Terror |
| Lissa Fortes Soares | Public Health | How to be Stronger in Older Age |
| Win Lin | Physics and Astronomy | Searching for the Dark Photon |
| Kanti Nandan Mihooliya | Medicine | Breaking the Resistance! |
| Antonio Novaes | Medicine | Turning Off Kidney Damage, Turning On Hope |
| Jonathan Plessis-Belair | Neurobiology & Behavior | Brain Aging on Trial |
| Ying-Jen Yang | Laufer Center | Decoding Life’s Miniature Machines by “Shrinking” the Physics of Everyday Engines |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Wang Center Lecture Hall 2
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2026 from 4 pm to 6 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ankita | Singh |
Microbiology and Immunology | Fixing Leakage in the Gut |
| 2nd | Gabriel | Matos |
Microbiology and Immunology | Stopping the Fungi Apocalypse |
| 3rd | Katherine | Gallagher |
IACS & SoMAS | The Mystery of the Gap |
Spotlight 2023 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video |
|---|---|---|
| Ciro Riccio | Physics and Astronomy | The Crack in the Mirror |
| Mitu Sharma | Chemistry | Can Chemistry Unlock the Treasure of Bountiful Crops? |
| Katherine Gallagher | Institute for Advanced Computational Science & School of Marine and Atmospheric Science | The Mystery of the Gap |
| Gabriel Matos | Microbiology and Immunology | Stopping the Fungi Apocalypse |
| Arshad Mehmood | Institute for Advanced Computational Science & Chemistry | Painting with Light: A Journey of Interpretation |
| Atul Pradhan | Medicine | Tuberculosis: A Present Challenge |
| Ankita Singh | Microbiology and Immunology | Fixing Leakage in the Gut |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Wang Center Lecture Hall 2
Date: Thursday, November 17, 2022 from 4 pm to 6:30 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Tianqi | Xie | Geosciences | |
| 2nd | Julie | Burrill | Alda Center for Communicating Science | |
| 3rd | Raphael | Lengacher | Chemistry |
The Search for Cancer – From a Needle in a Haystack to a Bright Flare |
Spotlight 2022 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Aswathy Nair | Neurobiology & Behavior | |
| Athmanathan Senthilnathan | Ecology & Evolution | |
| Hassane Hamdaoui | Physics & Astronomy | |
| Indhu Varatharajan | Geosciences | |
| Julie Burrill | Alda Center for Communicating Science | |
| Kaushik Mitra | Geosciences | |
| Raphael Lengacher | Chemistry |
The Search for Cancer – From a Needle in a Haystack to a Bright Flare |
| Tianqi Xie | Geosciences | |
| Wenliang (Bill) Li | Physics & Astronomy | |
| Zennur Sekendiz | Dept of Medicine, World Trade Center Health Program |
Understanding the Change in the Minds of 911 First Responders |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Zoom
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021 from 4 pm to 5:15 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ethan | Cline | Physics and Astronomy | |
| 2nd | Olivia | Swanson | Neurobiology and Behavior | |
| 3rd (tie) | Kim | Berghaus | Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics | |
| 3rd (tie) | Kristian | Hajny | School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences |
Spotlight 2021 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Laurel Yohe |
Ecology and Evolution | |
| Kristian Hajny |
School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences | |
| Olivia Swanson |
Neurobiology and Behavior | |
| Evgeny Amelchenko |
Anesthesiology |
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Mice living in an interesting or a boring cage differ in aggressiveness |
| Jonas Nascimento Conde | Microbiology and Immunology | |
| Neetika Jaisinghani | Pharmacology | |
| Rebecca Adikes | Biochemistry and Cell Biology | |
| Kim Berghaus | Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics | |
| Ethan Cline | Physics and Astronomy |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Wang Center Lecture Hall 2
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019 from 4 pm to 6:30 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Paola | Cepeda | Graduate School & Linguistics | |
| 2nd | Kevin | Sackel | Mathematics & Simons Center | |
| 2nd | Hillary | Schiff | Neurobiology & Behavior |
Spotlight 2019 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Kasturi Banerjee | Infectious Diseases | |
| Somanon Bhattacharya | Infectious Diseases | |
| Paola Cepeda | Graduate School and Linguistics | |
| Mariano Guardia Clausi | Radiation Oncology | |
| Christina Joselevitch | Neurobiology and Behavior | |
| Diane Kim | Psychiatry and Behavioral Health | |
| Yedukondalu Neelam | Geosciences | |
| Kevin Sackel | Mathematics and Simons Center | |
| Hillary Schiff | Neurobiology and Behavior | |
| Gurtej Singh | Surgery | |
| Yingchao Su | Biomedical Engineering | |
| Stalin Vilcarromero | Infectious Diseases |
The Real Threat for the Hispanic Workers in Suburban Areas of Long Island: Social Barriers and Lyme Disease |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Wang Center Lecture Hall 1
Date: Thursday, November 15, 2018 from 4 pm to 6:30 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lindsey | Czarnecki | Neurobiology & Behavior | |
| 2nd | Steven | Jaret | Geosciences | |
| 3rd | James | Robertson | Laufer Center |
Spotlight 2018 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Maryam Alavi | Medicine |
A Tiny Protein and One of the Most Common Cause of Cancer-Related Death |
| Harini Krishnan | Physiology and Biophysics | |
| Cristina Lazzarini | Molecular Genetics & Microbiology | |
| Steven Jaret | Geosciences | |
| Evgeni Boriushkin | Medicine | |
| Carlos Perez Lara | Physics and Astronomy | |
| Heidi Preis | Psychology | |
| Oumarou Njoya | Physics and Astronomy | |
| Lindsey Czarnecki | Neurobiology and Behavior | |
| James Robertson | Laufer Center |
Congratulations to Our Winners for Best Talks
Location: Wang Center Lecture Hall 1
Date: Thursday, November 16, 2017 from 4 pm to 6:30 pm
| Award | First Name | Last Name | Graduate Program | Talk Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Krupa | Haranahalli | Chemistry | |
| 2nd | Diana | Amorim | Physics and Astronomy | |
| 3rd | Maria | Rosa | Ecology and Evolution |
Life in transition: Can feeding flexibility help marine animals in a changing environment? |
Spotlight 2017 Competitors
| Name | Program | Talk Title and Video Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Ligia Diana Amorim | Physics and Astronomy | |
| Jozef Bodnar | Mathematics | |
| Emiliano Brini | Laufer Center | |
| Veronica Canoa Roman | Physics and Astronomy | |
| Krupanandan Haranahalli | Chemistry | |
| Hagit Hak | Biochemistry |
There’s someone in my kitchen! How Agrobacterium hijacks plant cells for making food |
| Soumyadeep Mukherjee | Public Health |
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Among 9/11 Responders: An unfortunate legacy of getting bullied in childhood |
| Maria Rosa | Ecology and Evolution |
Life in transition: Can feeding flexibility help marine animals in a changing environment? |
| Kirsten Siebach | Geosciences |
Reading the Martian Rock Record: Stories of a Previously Habitable World |