MCB Annual Award Recipients

The following are winners of our annual undergraduate awards for research and academic achievement. These awards recognize the excellence of the students that we are privileged to instruct in our classes and labs at Berkeley.

Departmental Citation

  • 2022 - Anne Chen
  • 2021 - Evelyn Chen
  • 2020 - Isaac Witte
  • 2019 - Jessica Bonnar
  • 2018 - Leslie Chan
  • 2017 - Lucian DiPeso
  • 2016 - Andy Ding
  • 2015 - Jack Kornfeld
  • 2014 - Rachel Agoglia
  • 2013 - Tara Jamie Wu
  • 2012 - Timothy Roth
  • 2011 - Harvind (Harvey) Chahal
  • 2010 - Dipankan Bhattacharya
  • 2009 - Chris Hsiung
  • 2008 - Timothy Dunn
  • 2007 - Amar Kishan
  • 2006 - Shankar Sundar
  • 2005 - Huiyi Chen
  • 2004 - Margaret Chow
  • 2003 - Anosheh Afghahi
  • 2002 - Gloria Brar
  • 2001 - Paul Scherz
  • 2000 - Hariharan Thangarajah

MCB Outstanding Scholar

  • 2022 - Allen Khudaverdyan, Frank Liu, Vivian Nguyen, Sameer Rajesh
  • 2021 - Nevan Powers, Naama Weksler, Tyler Wills, Victor Yu
  • 2020 - Kathryn Li, Katrine Madsen, Darain Noveir, Zeyi Zhou 
  • 2019 - Dong Hwa Chung, Rachel Kim, Amir-Ala Mahmoud
  • 2018 - Jessica Du, Hanna Liao, Jaewon Yoon
  • 2017 - Natalie Kucirek & Jowa Shi
  • 2016 - Skylar Kim & Quan Tran
  • 2015 - Alexander Agopyan-Miu, Lester Ng, & Kendall Wong
  • 2014 - Prashant Bhat & Allison Jean Greaney
  • 2013 - Lucilla Victoria Chalmer
  • 2012 - Arash Nayeri
  • 2011 - Albert Luong & Ankur Narain
  • 2010 - Isaac Oderberg
  • 2009 - Xiying Fan
  • 2008 - Vanessa van Voorhis
  • 2007 - Scott Coyle
  • 2006 - Christopher van Belle
  • 2005 - Jamie Harrington & Kentson Lam
  • 2004 - Jim Boonyaratanakornkit & Joanna Yeh
  • 2003 - Sang W. Kim
  • 2002 - Oliver Bembom
  • 2001 - Nadia Roan
  • 2000 - Michel Justin Porter Du Page

Kazuo Yanaba & Ting Jung Memorial Award
(Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)

  • 2022 -  Sam Ghaffari-Kashani
  • 2021 - Curtis Beck
  • 2020 - Molly Hydorn, David Lee
  • 2019 - Jonchee Kao
  • 2018 - Kaili Carr
  • 2017 - Jordan Said
  • 2016 - Taejin Park
  • 2015 - Ann Aindow
  • 2014 - Dominic Amara
  • 2013 - Kester Countinho
  • 2012 - Marina Volegova
  • 2011 - Brian Alford
  • 2010 - Shaunak Adkar
  • 2009 - Anna Podgornaia
  • 2008 - Heather Glasgow
  • 2007 - Carrie Shiau
  • 2006 - Yu-San Huoh
  • 2005 - May Thet Cho
  • 2004 - Jeremy Rock
  • 2003 - William K. Ridgeway
  • 2002 - Heather McGee
  • 2001 - Shirin Bahmanyar
  • 2000 - Hani Salehi-Had

Grace Fimognari Memorial Award
(Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)

  • 2022 -  Michelle Tang
  • 2021 - Rosa Lee
  • 2020 - Camille Moore
  • 2019 - Angela Pogson
  • 2018 - Emma Sydir
  • 2017 - Vy Ngo
  • 2016 - Sorel Ouonkap
  • 2015 - Jingyi Li
  • 2014 - Alyssa Tao
  • 2013 - Nia Teerikorpi
  • 2012 - Elaine Liu
  • 2011 - Patricia Deng
  • 2010 - Joo Yeon (Jenny) Ryu
  • 2009 - Wing Shing Vincent Yip
  • 2008 - Adam E. Singer
  • 2007 - Leila Ross
  • 2006 - Jimmy Liu Zhao
  • 2005 - Aaron H. Lay
  • 2004 - Pradeep Natarajan
  • 2003 - Amie Y. Lee
  • 2002 - Lawrence Shiow
  • 2001 - Erin Duncan
  • 2000 - Leslie Chu

Divisional Citation
(Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)

  • 2018 - Matthew Cooper
  • 2013 - Tiffany Wing-Ka Wong
  • 2002 - Gene Kwan
  • 2000 - Phillip Iaquinta

Edward M. Blount Award
(Genetics, Genomics & Development)

  • 2022 - Anne Chen, Eve Zhong
  • 2021 - Mira Cheng, Emily Pearlman
  • 2020 - Halee Yue, Zeyi Zhou
  • 2019 - Eric Chen
  • 2018 - Roshni Patel
  • 2017 - Issy Lin
  • 2016 - Allegra Nottoli
  • 2015 - Kevin Rui Luo
  • 2014 - Rachel Agoglia
  • 2013 - Sara Aziz
  • 2012 - Allen Zhu
  • 2011 - Sophia Yenchuan Kuo Lewis
  • 2010 - Dipankan Bhattacharya
  • 2009 - Devin Noblin & Kathleen Pitz
  • 2008 - Leslie Sheu
  • 2007 - Geoffrey Friedman
  • 2006 - Victoria Chen
  • 2005 - Omar Mohamed-Aly
  • 2004 - Joanne Yeh
  • 2003 - Gregory Havlena
  • 2002 - Gloria Brar

Spencer W. Brown Award
(Genetics, Genomics & Development)

  • 2022 - Minori Aoki, Anne Chen
  • 2021 - Jenny Lai, Sarah Swerdlow, Ruchika Singla, Konnor Von Emster
  • 2020 - Faisal AlZaben, Keerthana Chetlapelli, Andrew Liao, Emily Ye
  • 2019 - Pallavi Joshi & Riku Yasutomi
  • 2018 - Hanna Liao & Apeksha Singh
  • 2017 - Bonnie Su & Yuxiao Xu
  • 2016 - Lucas Brenes & Skylar Kim
  • 2015 - Kyu Chul Chang & Nikunj (Nick) Donde
  • 2014 - Rachel Agoglia, Xuchen Hu, Byron Lee
  • 2013 - Monica Jimenez, Sahar Victoria Mozaffari
  • 2012 - Andrew Hsiu-Hao Chang, Gloria Wu
  • 2011 - Jennifer Cherone, Steven K. Gore, Eric Lu, Albert Luong, Joseph Magliocco, Carissa Ikka Pardamean, and Desirée Natasha Stanley
  • 2010 - Dipankan Bhattacharya & Michael Goldrich
  • 2009 - Lauren Barclay, Genevieve Gould, Alisa Moskaleva, Kelly Nissen & Jane O
  • 2008 - Joshua A. Arribere
  • 2007 - Darien Emily Reed, Elizabeth Lally & Marina Sharifi
  • 2006 - Alvin Tamsir
  • 2005 - Frederick Ling
  • 2004 - Keyan Salari
  • 2003 - Gregory T. Havlena & Wendy Lam
  • 2002 - Sabrina Hom & Masoud F. Tavazoie
  • 2001 - Annie F. Kuo & Kevin M. Vogeli
  • 2000 - Michelle Wan Yee Lau

The Nilabh Shastri Memorial Award for Outstanding Immunologist (until 2021 was called the Outstanding Immunologist Award
(Immunology & Pathogenesis)

  • 2022 - Frank Liu
  • 2021 - Caleb Hwang
  • 2020 - Michelle Verghese
  • 2019 - Kelsey Talkington
  • 2018 - Jaewon Yoon
  • 2017 - Alexander Kim
  • 2016 - Benjamin Jackson
  • 2015 - Shagnik Ray
  • 2014 - Priscilla Cheung
  • 2013 - Jason Yoon
  • 2012 - Jeffrey Lin
  • 2011 - Lisa Brooke Noble
  • 2010 - Leslie Ying Chiang
  • 2009 - Kelly M. Mahuron
  • 2008 - Eric A. Dunipace & Ramses Monir El-Diwany
  • 2007 - Judy Chang
  • 2006 - Ying Tan
  • 2005 - Calvin Tyi Hang
  • 2004 - Cassie Chou
  • 2003 - Louis M. Savar
  • 2002 - Andrew Phelps & Marcus Zachariah
  • 2001 - Sarah M. Choi
  • 2000 - Tania Kaprealian

Award for Academic Excellence in Immunology
(Immunology & Pathogenesis)

  • 2022 - Tiffany Chen
  • 2021 - Vera Qu
  • 2020 - Siddharth Chattaranjan *
  • 2019 - Peter Wang *
  • 2018 - Hewitt Chang
  • 2017 - Jessica (Jiaxi) Wang
  • 2016 - Edward Wang
  • 2015 - Meghana Eswarappa
  • 2014 - Yijia (Helena) Hong
  • 2013 - Jennifer Weiai Tai
  • 2012 - Bonnie Yen
  • 2011 - Ryan Christopher Kunitake
  • 2010 - Jeremy Wang
  • 2009 - Sepehr Keyhani

* In 2019 and 2020 only the award was The Nilabh Shastri Academic Achievement Award

Excellence in Research
(Immunology & Pathogenesis)

  • 2022 - Evan Juan
  • 2021 - Sophie Blanc
  • 2020 - Vivasvan Vykunta
  • 2019 - Kimberly Tang
  • 2018 - Brian Woo
  • 2017 - Zachary Grimmett
  • 2016 - Apurva Govande
  • 2015 - Natasha Kafai
  • 2014 - April Choi
  • 2013 - Neha Chandra, Joanne Moon
  • 2012 - Michael Tan
  • 2011 - Kenneth Leung
  • 2010 - Brooke M. Su
  • 2009 - Jernej Godec

Paola S. Timiras Memorial Prize
(Cell & Developmental Biology)

  • 2022 - Vivian Nguyen
  • 2021 -  Evelyn Chen
  • 2020 - Trisha Shang
  • 2019 - Yvonne Hao
  • 2018 - Alexandra Dubinin
  • 2017 - Jessica Hong
  • 2016 - Susan Zhou
  • 2015 - Kendall Wong
  • 2014 - Ryan Wang
  • 2013 - Robert Saxton
  • 2012 - Arash Nayeri
  • 2011 - Albert Sae Yu
  • 2010 - Simina Ticau
  • 2009 - Philip Choi

John Forte Memorial Prize
(Cell & Developmental Biology)

  • 2022 -  Reshma Kodimerla
  • 2021 - Yichen Zhu
  • 2020 - Nicole Mirabadi
  • 2019 - Eric Chen
  • 2018 - Nikki Chiang
  • 2017 - Jigyasa Sharma
  • 2015 - Sarah Michelle Tucci
  • 2014 - Edward Wang
  • 2013 - Christopher Dutkovsky
  • 2012 - Sara Aziz

Jeffery A. Winer Memorial Prize
(Neurobiology)

  • 2022 -  Amit Ahituv
  • 2021 - Yichen Zhu
  • 2020 - Sanika Ganesh
  • 2019 - Suma Gudipati
  • 2018 - Cathrine Petersen
  • 2017 - Stacie Ong
  • 2016 - Prerak Juthani
  • 2015 - Carson Quinn
  • 2014 - Ken Tao
  • 2013 - Adeeti Aggarwal
  • 2012 - Camille Malatt
  • 2011 - Kaili Zhou
  • 2010 - Connie Wang
  • 2009 - Yohan Song

I.L. Chaikoff Awards in Cell & Developmental Biology and Neurobiology

  • 2022 Winners
    • Saisnigdha Allaparthi
    • Julianne Bartz
    • Emma Fortmann
    • Michelle Ho
    • Jingtong (Cynthia) Huang
    • Reshma Kodimerla
    • Christina Lee
    • Hyunju Lee
    • William Lin
    • Ananya Murali
    • Nanda Nayak
    • Vincent Panico
    • Miti Parikh
    • Shuka Park
    • Rivka Steinberg
    • Emily Sumpena
    • Citlalli Vergara
    • Sophia Wang
    • Rachel Woody
    • Amy Yan
    • Mohamed Yassin
    • Hannah Zeigler
  • 2021 Winners
    • Kaho Adachi
    • Emily Bi
    • Rebecca Chang
    • Henry Chen
    • Gurjiwan Dhaliwal
    • Naz Dundar
    • Alan Huang
    • Naomi Nicholas
    • Lara Ocumen
    • Vy Pham
    • Alma Rechav Ben natan
    • Jonathan Shirian
    • Sarah Short
    • Ricardo Silva
    • Kristy Tjokro
    • Lola Takhirov
    • Nina Xiong
    • Yvette Ysabel Yao
    • Jing Yuan
    • Amy Zhong
  • 2020 Winners
    • Alexandra Alvarez
    • Saya Boddu
    • Tia Cheunkarndee
    • Austin Fan
    • Christopher Hall
    • Samantha Haraguchi
    • Shazreh Hassan
    • Jolie Huang
    • Vedant Jain
    • Yingjoy Li
    • Vivian Li
    • Jocelyn Liu
    • Jiayi Luo
    • Anjeli Mase
    • Natalie Petersen
    • Daniel Quintana
    • Sheila Steiner
    • Shivani Sundaram

  • 2019 Winners
    • Kamran Ahmed
    • Amanda Chang
    • Caleb Choy
    • Reni Forer
    • Eugene Gil
    • Aditya Goel
    • Suma Gudipati
    • Yvonne Hao
    • Mukund Raguram
    • Sarah Rockwood
    • Xin Frank Qi
    • Arohi Saxena
    • Ankita Singh
    • Emiliano Tabarsi
    • Hannah Yeeun Tak
    • Wilson Xu
  • 2018 Winners
    • Jennifer Chung
    • Nicholas Daneshvari
    • Ching Fang
    • Raymond Ho
    • Benjamin Hoshal
    • Suvruta Iruvanti
    • Tommy Jiang
    • Maya Kostman
    • Samantha Lai
    • Sarah Mendoza
    • Nadia Rahimian
    • Priya Shah
    • Jigyasa Sharma
    • Karen Shih
    • Yennie Shyu
    • Cole Urnes
  • 2017 Winners
    • Seoiyoung "Sei" AhnAlbert Xu
    • Daniel Cardozo Pinto
    • Kyle Chan
    • Stella Chen
    • Lena Egbert
    • Heng-Yi Liu
    • Hasti Mazdeyasna
    • Rachel Prorok
    • Aloukika Shah
    • Kiarash Shamardani
    • Albert Xu
    • Lynna Yang
  • 2016 Winners
    • Denny Cha
    • Kelsey Clausing
    • Yalda Dehghan
    • Kylie Huang
    • Erica Huey
    • Prerak Juthani
    • Parth Kumar
    • Mallika Lai
    • Nicole Leong
    • Elizabeth Liao
    • Antara Rao
    • Nica Sabouni
    • Lochan Shah
    • Amy Tsai
    • Michelle Zhang
    • Susan Zhou
  • 2015 Winners
    • Lara Bideyan
    • Gwendolyn Daly
    • Justin Devera
    • Daniel Dinh
    • Brooke Holey
    • Shaw Hsu
    • Haani Jafri
    • Shannon Leslie
    • Kari Miller
    • Rebecca Nguyen
    • Gabrielle Rader
  • 2014 Winners
    • Ashwin Aravind (CDB)
    • Nagehan Ayakta (NEU)
    • Nadir Bilici (NEU)
    • Christina Cho (CDB)
    • Razvan Druma (NEU)
    • Kevin Kao (NEU)
    • Michelle Khouri (CDB)
    • Hannah Oppenheim (NEU)
    • Maribel Patino (NEU)
    • Jessica Poon (CDB)
    • Manali Shah (CDB)
    • Surbhi Trivedi (NEU)
  • 2013 Winners
    • Kapil Gururangan
    • Yuan-Hung Lin
    • Vi Nguyen
    • Shannen Poon
    • Robert Saxton
    • Shelley Shi
    • Christine Shieh
    • Tara Jamie Wu
    • Grace Tang
    • Alexis Woods
    • Adeeti Aggarwal
  • 2012 Winners
    • James Edward Asuncion (Neurobiology)
    • Brittany Bartolome (CDB)
    • Anne Kuwabara (CDB)
    • Camille Malatt (Neurobiology)
    • Edna Bai Miao (CDB)
    • Sandra Muroy (Neurobiology) 
    • Vivek Musinipally (CDB)
    • Olivia Pourzia (Neurobiology)
    • Raha Sadjadi (CDB)
    • Gaelen Britton Stanford-Moore (CDB)
    • Yulia Zektser (Neurobiology)
  • 2011 Winners
    • Neha Agarwal (CDB)
    • Amit Arunkumar (Cell & Developmental Bioloy)
    • Aneesh Nitin Donde (Neurobiology)
    • Gabriela Fragiadakis (Neurobiology
    • Zachary Grunwald (Neurobiology)
    • Lauren Hum (Cell & Developmental Biology)
    • Sunil Kumar Joshi (Cell & Developmental Biology)
    • Samata Katta (Neurobiology)
    • Susan Young Kim (Cell & Developmental Biology)
    • Lee Ying (Cell & Developmental Biology)
    • Albert Sae Yu (Cell & Developmental Biology)
    • Kaili Zhou (Neurobiology)
  • 2010 Winners
    • Tony Chen (CDB)
    • Michael Chiang (Neurobiology)
    • Wayland Chu (Neurobiology)
    • Jason Chung (Neurobiology)
    • Cody Ender (CDB)
    • Heejae Kang (Neurobiology)
    • May Szeto (CDB)
    • Simina Ticau (CDB)
    • Bao Ahn Patrick Tran (CDB)
    • Connie Wang (Neurobiology)
    • Weichan Xu (Neurobiology)
    • Elena Zehr (CDB)
  • 2009 Winners
    • Philip Choi (CDB)
    • Brandon Endo (CDB)
    • Justine Hum (Neurobiology)
    • Sarah Kaufman (Neurobiology)
    • Bianca Lee (CDB)
    • James Lee (CDB)
    • Alicia Nugent (Neurobiology)
    • Viviana Ruiz Barros (CDB)
    • Jasdeep Sabharwal (Neurobiology)
    • Yohan Song (Neurobiology)
    • Graham Walmsley (CDB)
    • Wiggin Wu (CDB)
  • 2008 Winners
    • Vasiliki Irene Aivaliotis (CDB)
    • Tiffany Cheng (CDB)
    • Timothy Dunn (Neurobiology)
    • Kimberly Marie Iwaki (CDB)
    • Min Kyeong Jennifer Kim (CDB)
    • Hank H. Lai (CDB)
    • Alexander H. Nguyen (CDB)
    • Kevin Poon (CDB)
    • Amy Shen (Neurobiology)
    • Joyce Lichi Yang (CDB)
    • Stephan Yoon (Neurobiology)
    • Lily Zeng (CDB)
  • 2007 Winners
    • Arash Calafi (CDB)
    • Ellen Cheang (CDB)
    • Jennifer Chen (CDB)
    • Phillip Ge (CDB)
    • Jessica Lin (CDB)
    • Olga Kochan (Neurobiology)
    • David Noorvash (Neurobiology)
    • Bora Shin (Neurobiology)
    • Halley Tsai (Neurobiology)
    • Lisa Ai-Jin Tseng (CDB)
    • Carter C. Wystrach (CDB)
    • Kathy Y. Zhang (CDB)
  • 2006 Winners
    • Camellia Asgarian (Neurobiology)
    • Daniel Brady (Neurobiology)
    • Stephanie Ching (CDB)
    • Nancy Hoo (CDB)
    • Gary Huang (CDB)
    • Michelle Iwaki (CDB)
    • Kendon Kuo (CDB)
    • Jun Ma (CDB)
    • Kelly Ning Ma (Neurobiology)
    • Andrea Steely (CDB)
    • Kevin Yee (CDB)
    • Ya Qing Annie Zhang (Neurobiology)
  • 2005 Winners
    • Brandon Scott Beamer (CDB)
    • Caterina Namiko Equinozio (CDB)
    • Jamie Keiko Nicole Harrington (CDB)
    • Jeffrey Huang (CDB)
    • Ian Harris Kratter (Neurobiology)
    • Tsang Lau (CDB)
    • Daniel H. Lo (CDB)
    • David H. Nguyen (CDB)
    • Gunjan Patangay (CDB)
    • Tina Tan (Neurobiology)
    • May Wong (CDB)
    • Wendy Wan Wong (Neurobiology)
  • 2004 Winners
    • Anu Agarwal (CDB)
    • Sonny Batra (Neurobiology)
    • Jonathan Gee (Neurobiology)
    • Cathy Hau (Neurobiology)
    • Charles Liao (CDB)
    • Youssra Marjoua (CDB)
    • Tresa McGranahan (Neurobiology)
    • Christopher Peabody (CDB)
    • Jennifer Su (CDB)
    • Elaine Thung (CDB)
  • 2003 Winners
    • Wai Cheong (CDB)
    • Henry O. Delu, Jr. (CDB)
    • Jennifer Reth Giampaolo (CDB)
    • Saori Lillian Haigo (CDB)
    • Anahita Jafari (Neurobiology)
    • Eugenia Yunju Kim (CDB)
    • Joseph Younghan Kim (CDB)
    • Darya Lee Pino-Dempsey (Neurobiology)
    • Omar Saeed (CDB)
    • Bobby Lut-Ming Tsang (CDB)
  • 2002 Winners
    • Emily Jia Chen (CDB)
    • Jennifer Ann Chen (CDB)
    • Lawrence L. Choy (CDB)
    • Angela Lee Gee(Neurobiology)
    • David Henry Gire (Neurobiology)
    • Janelle S. Lamberton (CDB)
    • John Davis Long II (Neurobiology)
    • William W. Tseng (CDB)
    • Lisa Janelle Turner (Neurobiology)
    • Maria Vaysberg (CDB)
    • Randy L. Wei (CDB)
  • 2001 Winners
    • Chih-Yuan Chiang (CDB)
    • Christiane Haeffele (CDB)
    • Rajan Jain (CDB)
    • John Kim (CDB)
    • Robyn Kuroki (CDB)
    • Mary Leigh (CDB)
    • Chinwe Okoye (CDB)
    • Loree Tamanaha (Neurobiology)
    • Marissa Vadi (CDB)
    • Tin-Wing Wong (CDB)
    • Ryan Young (CDB)
  • 2000 Winners
    • Nasrin Amiri (CDB)
    • Sue Yeon Choi (Neurobiology)
    • Kensho Iwanaga (CDB)
    • Brian Sun Kim (CDB)
    • Joy T. Shen (CDB)
    • Vicky Man Siauw (CDB)
    • Hariharan Thangarajah (CDB)
    • Nadir Yehya (CDB)

Evans Memorial Prize
(Cell & Developmental Biology)

  • 2022 - Emily Sumpena
  • 2021 -  Felicia Tang
  • 2020 -  Jeffrey Park
  • 2019 - Xin Frank Qi
  • 2018 - Ziad Rifi
  • 2016 - Denny Cha 

Jesse Rabinowitz Memorial Prize for junior research
(Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)

  • 2022 - Haru Yamamoto
  • 2021 - Split into 3 awards:
    • Jesse Rabinowitz Memorial Prize - Michelle Tang 
    • Richard Calendar Memorial Prize -  Yisheng Zheng
    • Jeremy Thorner Research Prize - Safaa Jamshed
  • 2020 -  Shivani Bhandarkar
  • 2019 - Kevin Yu
  • 2018 - Jonchee Kao
  • 2017 - Yein Ra
  • 2016 - Joel Sax
  • 2015 - Kore Chan
  • 2014 - Jingyi Li
  • 2013 - Tristan A. Bell
  • 2012 - Ka Lee Chau
  • 2011 - Timothy Roth
  • 2010 - Yueh-Yi (Gloria) Wu
  • 2009 - Aron Kamajaya
  • 2008 - Chris Hsiung
  • 2007 - Panid Sharifinia
  • 2006 - Paolo Gabriel

F.H. Carpenter Memorial Prize for junior research
(Biochemistry & Molecular Biology)

  • 2005 - Ming Mai
  • 2004 - Huiyi Chen
  • 2003 - Margaret Chow
  • 2002 - Miriam Inbar
  • 2001 - Lawrence Shiow
  • 2000 - Nadia Roan
  • 1999 - Mary Hyo-Soon Lee