Congratulations to our MCB Class of 2021 graduates!
The MCB Department is so proud of each and every one of you! Your remarkable passion, determination, and perseverance deserve to be celebrated. Please enjoy our virtual commencement video featuring our keynote faculty speaker Elçin Ünal, student speaker Vy Pham, messages from faculty, and student-created commencement slides. Join us in celebrating all our graduates, the 2021 MCB Commencement Honors awardees (below), and the success of our inaugural Senior Gift Campaign which raised funds for student research stipends.
2021 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. |
Evelyn Chen |
| Outstanding Scholars Awarded for the second-highest achievement of a graduating senior in MCB. |
Nevan Powers, Naama Weksler, Tyler Wills, Victor Yu |
 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. |
Rosa Lee |
| 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. |
Curtis Beck |
| Jesse Rabinowitz Memorial Prize Awarded to an outstanding junior in the BMB emphasis, based on academic achievement in MCB courses and faculty recommendation. |
Shivani Bhandarkar |
| BMB Best Poster | Shivani Bhandarkar, Sage Templeton |
 DIVISION OF CELL & DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY |
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| Evans Memorial Prize In recognition of outstanding academic achievement and excellence in molecular physiology or anatomy. |
Felicia Tang |
| Forte Memorial Prize In recognition of outstanding academic achievement in molecular physiology |
Yichen Zhu |
| 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. |
Evelyn Chen |
| I.L. Chaikoff Award in Cell & Developmental Biology Awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement and excellence in the Cell & Developmental Biology and Neurobiology emphases. |
Rebecca Chang, Gurjiwan Dhaliwal, Lara Ocumen, Sarah Short, Ricardo Silva, Lola Takhirov, Kristy Tjokro, Nina Xiong, Jing Yuan, Amy Zhong |
| CDB Best Poster | Celeste Hsu, Lara Ocumen, Carrie Shao, Sarah Short, Ricardo Silva, Natalie Suhy, Lola Takhirov, Jing Yuan |
 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. |
Mira Cheng, Emily Pearlman |
| Spencer W. Brown Award Awarded to a graduating senior who has most distinguished themselves in genetics research. |
Jenny Lai, Ruchika Singla, Sarah Swerdlow, Konnor Von Emster |
| GGD Best Poster | Ruchika Singla, Sarah Swerdlow |
 DIVISION OF IMMUNOLOGY & PATHOGENESIS |
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| The Nilabh Shastri Memorial Award for Outstanding Immunologist Awarded for the highest academic achievement in the Immunology and Pathogenesis emphasis. |
Caleb Hwang |
| 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. |
Vera Qu |
| 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. |
Sophie Blanc |
| IMM Best Poster | Samuel Slown, Xinying (Lisa) Wu, Ashley Yang |
 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. |
Yichen Zhu |
| I.L. Chaikoff Award in Neurobiology Awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement and excellence in the Cell & Developmental Biology and Neurobiology emphases. |
Kaho Adachi, Emily Bi, Henry Chen, Naz Dundar, Alan Huang, Naomi Nicholas, Vy Pham, Alma Rechav Ben natan, Jonathan Shirian, Yvette Ysabel Yao |
| NEU Best Poster | Ali Jafri, Joie Zhou |
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| Our inaugural 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 6 MCB undergraduates in the 2021-2022 academic year. A special thanks to: Greg Barton, Beth Burnside, Dan Feldman, Marla Feller, Iswar Hariharan, Celeste Hsu, Nicholas Ingolia, Mark Jenkinson, Jenny Lai, Polina Lishko, Sarah Short, Jeremy Thorner, and Jerry Yin. Go Bears! |
Banner and Empowering the Next Generation images courtesy Noah Berger, UC Berkeley.