Students working on research with high future potential—from microbes to new HIV treatments—were awarded 2026 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.
The awards are among some of the nation’s most prestigious fellowships, providing financial support to graduate students who have demonstrated potential for significant achievements in research.
Among the 2,500 recipients are six chemical and biomolecular engineering students:
Lavanya Gupta graduated with the class of 2026. At Johns Hopkins, she conducted research in the Yayuan Liu lab on using renewable energy to convert common substances, such as water and carbon dioxide into fuels, fertilizers and other products. She will be pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
Nicole Korinetz graduated in 2025 and is currently pursuing a PhD in molecular engineering at the University of Chicago. Her research at Johns Hopkins focused on developing polymer-based nanoparticles to deliver tiny bits of DNA instructions—housed in mRNA particles—to other cells to treat disease.
Felicity (Songman) Li graduated in 2024 and is currently employed by Genentech in their Process Development Rotation Program learning how to develop safe and effective medicines. At Johns Hopkins, Li worked in the laboratory of Ishan Barman, who studies new methods for imaging biological targets in the lab and in the body, aiming to improve disease diagnosis.
Melina Mohammadi graduated with the class of 2026. Equal parts engineer and microbe enthusiast, Mohammadi’s passion for phage therapy inspired the development of DentiPhage, an award-winning project that uses bacteriophages to target oral biofilms. She hopes to continue researching microbial therapeutics and the potential of phage-based medicine to address antibiotic-resistant infections. Mohammadi will begin her PhD program in Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University.
Claire Sklar graduated with the class of 2026. Sklar studied in Honggang Cui’s laboratory, developing targeted drugs for long-acting injectable treatment of HIV. After graduating with both a BS and MSE in chemical and biomolecular engineering, she is pursuing her PhD in chemical engineering at MIT.
Evan Wang graduated with the class of 2026. Wang conducted research in Hai-Quan Mao’s lab, focusing on biomaterials for regenerative therapy and drug delivery. He will be attending Columbia University to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering.
Recipients were selected based on merit and broader impact of their research, including the potential to contribute to scientific innovation.