Congratulations to our MCB PhD and BA Class of 2023 graduates!
The MCB Department is proud of our newest graduates and all that they have accomplished! Please help us celebrate the 2023 MCB Commencement Honors awardees (below) as well as the success of our Senior Gift Campaign which raised enough funds to support 7 undergraduate student research stipends for the 2023-2024 academic year.
2023 MCB PhD Commencement Honors
The following are the recipients of our annual graduate awards for research, academic, and community achievement.
| Cris Alvaro Memorial Prize The Cris Alvaro Memorial Prize honors MCB graduate student Cris Alvaro, who identified as a trans and non-binary person, using the preferred pronouns they/them/their. This award was established after Cris's untimely death in 2018 at age 29 and is presented annually to MCB Ph.D. students who embody excellence in research and commitment to diversity, inclusion, tolerance, acceptance, and sense of community that Cris Alvaro epitomized. |
Michelle Reid (Brohawn Lab) and Kyle Tucker(Brohawn Lab) |
| Nicholas Cozzarelli Prize The Nicholas Cozzarelli Prize was established in honor of Professor Nick Cozzarelli after his passing in 2006. It is presented annually to a graduating MCB student for excellent Ph.D. research. |
Rafael Rivera-Lugo (Portnoy lab) |
| Alan Bearden Book Award The Book Award in honor of emeritus professor Alan Bearden was established after his death in 1999 and is presented to graduates who have performed outstanding research in the area of Biophysics. |
Shawn Costello (Biophysics PhD; Marqusee Lab) and Liv Jensen (Hurley Lab) |
| Award for Exemplary Leadership in Promoting DEIB at the Graduate Level The MCB awards for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging were established this year to honor the efforts that our graduate students are doing to help create a departmental environment where everyone belongs and thrives. Many of our graduate students work together along with staff and faculty to integrate DEIB into all aspects of our department, from the classroom to the research labs, and at the undergraduate and graduate levels. |
Amanda Gonzalez-Segarra (Zoncu lab) |
| Award for Exemplary Leadership in Promoting DEIB at the Undergraduate Level The MCB awards for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging were established this year to honor the efforts that our graduate students are doing to help create a departmental environment where everyone belongs and thrives. Many of our graduate students work together along with staff and faculty to integrate DEIB into all aspects of our department, from the classroom to the research labs, and at the undergraduate and graduate levels. |
Erika Lopez-Alfonso (Martin lab) |
2023 MCB Undergraduate Commencement Honors
The following are the recipients of our annual undergraduate awards for research and academic achievement.
For more details about each award, click here.
| Departmental Citation Awarded for the highest achievement each year by a graduating senior in MCB. |
Lillie Bui |
| Outstanding Scholar Awarded for the second-highest achievement of a graduating senior in MCB. |
Albert Yeam |
 DIVISION OF BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOPHYSICS & STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY |
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| Grace Fimognari Memorial Prize Awarded to the graduating senior in the BMB emphasis, based on the same criteria as the Departmental Citation. |
Sahar Zarafshan |
| Kazuo Gerald Yanaba & Ting Jung Memorial Prize This award is based on the students' oral presentation of their research at the annual BMB Undergraduate Honors Research Symposium and by their honors theses. |
Lillian Litvak |
| Jesse Rabinowitz Memorial Prize Awarded to an outstanding junior in the BMB emphasis, based on academic achievement in MCB courses and faculty recommendation. |
Haru Yamamoto |
 DIVISION OF CELL BIOLOGY, DEVELOPMENT & PHYSIOLOGY |
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| Forte Memorial Prize In recognition of outstanding academic achievement in molecular physiology |
Hannah Lu |
| Paola S. Timiras Memorial Prize Awarded to the top graduating senior in the Cell & Developmental Biology emphasis for high academic achievement and excellence of research in an honors project. |
Madeleine Weiss |
| I.L. Chaikoff Award in Cell & Developmental Biology Awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement and excellence in the Cell & Developmental Biology and Neurobiology emphases. |
Madeleine Weiss, Daniel Ardjmand, Michael Cui, Joelle Chuang, Alyssa Desai, Erin Hong, Bazilco Marveen Jean Simon, Rohit Jhawar, Aadhithya Manimaran, Christian Ringler, Andrea Sandoval, Christine Wan, Britney Weng |
 DIVISION OF GENETICS, GENOMICS, AND DEVELOPMENT |
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| Edward M. Blount Award Awarded to the student with the highest academic achievement in Genetics, Genomics, and Development. |
Chenxi Ou,Diana Francis, Hannah Van Mullem |
| Spencer W. Brown Award Awarded to a graduating senior who has most distinguished themselves in genetics research. |
Shannon Cheung, Diana Francis, Jonathan Luo, Luke Lyons, Emily Zhao |
 DIVISION OF IMMUNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR MEDICINE |
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| The Nilabh Shastri Memorial Award for Outstanding Immunologist Awarded for the highest academic achievement in the Immunology and Pathogenesis emphasis. |
Thomas Kouyate |
| Award for Academic Excellence in Immunology Awarded to the graduating senior in the Immunology and Pathogenesis emphasis for the high academic achievement in all MCB required courses. |
Ananya Krishnapurna |
| Award for Excellence in Research in Immunology Awarded to the graduating senior in the Immunology and Pathogenesis emphasis for exceptional research performance in an honors research project. |
Dylan Ryder |
 DIVISION OF NEUROBIOLOGY |
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| Jeffery A. Winer Memorial Prize Awarded to the top graduating senior in the Neurobiology emphasis for high academic achievement and excellence of research in an honors project. |
Meeseo Lee |
| I.L. Chaikoff Award in Neurobiology Awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement and excellence in the Cell & Developmental Biology and Neurobiology emphases. |
Bi Dasheng, Stephanie Ancheta, Ethan Garcia, Ajitesh Nanda, Jonathan Read, Shrina Pandey, Varya Fayner, Ruilin Liang, May Wang, Albert Yeung, Leah Varghese |
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| Our senior gift campaign was a tremendous success! Thanks to the generosity of our community of students, families, alumni, friends, faculty and staff we raised enough funds to provide $1,000 research stipend awards to 5 MCB undergraduates in the 2023-2024 academic year. A special thanks to: Dan Feldman, Marla Feller, Iswar Hariharan, Rebecca Heald, Nicholas Ingolia, Mark Jenkinson, Jeremy Thorner, Joshua Tran and our anonymous donors. Go Bears! |
Photo credits: Banner and Empowering the Next Generation images courtesy Noah Berger. Homepage thumbnail courtesy Keegan Houser. UC Berkeley.