Three BME PhD Students Among This Year’s Seibel Scholars

The 2012 Siebel Scholars from Johns Hopkins are Suneil Hosmane, Stephanie I. Fraley, Manisha Aggarwal, Donny Hanjaya-Putra and Hannah Carter. Photo: Jay VanRensselaer/Homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

BME PhD students Hannah Carter and Suneil Hosmane have been named to the 2012 class of Siebel Scholars. They are among five Johns Hopkins recipients out of 85 students selected this year from prominent graduate schools in the United States and China, including Harvard, Princeton, MIT and Stanford. The merit-based program provides $35,000 to each student for use in his or her final year of graduate studies.

Hannah Carter, under the supervision of Rachel Karchin, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is using computer technology to study the role of genetic mutations in cancer. By teasing out the few mutations responsible for tumor growth and drug resistance, she hopes to speed up the search for drug targets and identify which tumors are most likely to respond to treatment by anti-cancer drugs. Hannah is from Louisville, Ky.

Suneil Hosmane, under the supervision of Nitish Thakor, a professor of biomedical engineering, has developed innovative micro devices that have shed light on new communication pathways that govern neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and transverse myelitis. Suneil is from Dekalb, Ill.

Manisha Aggarwal, under the supervision of Susumu Mori, a professor of radiology in the School of Medicine, has been using a technology called high-field diffusion tensor magnetic resonance micro-imaging to view white matter in mouse brains, a key step toward developing new ways to conduct brain research in humans. Manisha is from Ghaziabad, India.