UIC doctoral students garner NSF graduate research fellowships

Four University of Illinois Chicago PhD students in STEM fields have been named National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows, earning funding to advance their research. 

The five-year fellowships provide three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $37,000 and $16,000 toward the cost of education, said Benn Williams, director of fellowships and awards, who leads the grant program at UIC’s Graduate College. 

“Historically, NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program is the premier federal program for graduate students in the natural, social and engineering sciences,” Williams said. “Its generous stipend, flexibility and prestige can set up a student for a successful career in their chosen field.” 

The doctoral students are Jake McCoy, electrical and computer engineering; Ahoora Tamizifar, mathematical sciences-analysis; Mare McGrory, environmental science; and Leanna Pfeffer, biomedical engineering. 

McCoy, from Utah, earned his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University and has been working on two research projects since he began at UIC.  

The first is to develop a computer application for people with lingual neuropathy — damage or dysfunction of nerves in the tongue. 

How it works: A patient speaks into a microphone, and the audio recordings are automatically uploaded to a database and processed by machine-learning and signal processing algorithms. The program evaluates the patient’s speech and determines how speech therapy is helping. 

“The way it’s done right now, if the patient is going through speech therapy, the tracking is super subjective,” said McCoy. “Since this is pure math that’s analyzing their speech, it’s objective.” 

The second project is more personal, driven by a health scare that put him in the hospital in his junior year as an undergraduate.  

His aim is to develop a wearable device that could serve as an ultra-low-power, long-term electrocardiogram (EKG) monitor for heart health, capable of operating for at least a decade without recharging, said McCoy.  

“I want to be using electrical and computer engineering to make medical devices and other technologies that will help people be healthier and happier,” said McCoy. 

Tamizifar, from Iran, earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics from UC Irvine before moving to Chicago. At UIC, he is researching geometry and dynamical systems, mathematical disciplines that describe how a system changes over time. 

Tamizifar wants to understand how systems evolve and how their behavior reveals important geometric features of the space in which they operate. 

By studying the trajectory that points follow under a set of mathematical rules, he is looking to learn about the geometry of the underlying space. This knowledge of complex systems has broad applications across many areas of mathematics.  

“I’m interested in the questions because they are interesting mathematically,” said Tamizifar.  “We do mathematics because it surprises and challenges us; it is a human endeavor that sparks joy and curiosity.”  

This is Tamizifar’s second attempt at the National Science Foundation fellowship. He applied as an undergraduate and received an honorable mention.  

At UIC, he worked with Professor Osama Khalil in the math department and Benn Williams to strengthen his application.  

“I was very determined to have a stronger application this year,” he said. “Getting it meant a lot to me, and it’s really life-changing for me.” 

McGrory, from Pennsylvania, earned her undergraduate degree in environmental science from the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied invasive plant ecology and plant nitrogen use. Now she’s looking at urban adaptation and climate resilience. 

“I’m particularly eager to explore the biogeochemical and ecological implications of green stormwater infrastructure – an umbrella term that encompasses street trees, rain gardens and other plant-centric installations,” she said. 

McGory is a PhD student in ecology and evolution in UIC’s Department of Biological Sciences. The fellowship and its three years of guaranteed financial support will help her expand her research to include more fieldwork and in-depth analysis and, possibly, collaboration with local nonprofits, agencies and other partners. 

“It felt personally validating to hear that my perspective and research approach and priorities were recognized and valued on a national scale,” McGrory said about earning the fellowship. “Entering grad school with that extra confidence boost, academic flexibility and financial security feels all the more encouraging and intellectually freeing.” 

Long-term, she plans to continue her scientific research and serve as a consultant to urban planners and architects on the design and implementation of urban climate-adaptation strategies.  

Pfeffer, also from Pennsylvania, earned her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Miami. Now she studies tissue engineering, biomaterials, microfluidics and organ-on-a-chip technology.  

“I am especially interested in combining engineering design with cell biology to create more physiologically accurate models of human tissues,” said Pfeffer. 

She is working on developing a three-dimensional model of the blood-brain barrier on a tiny scale — a chip — that more closely recreates how blood vessels interact with human brain tissues. Her goal: to make a model that is reproducible and practical for other researchers studying neurological disease and drug transport. 

“Receiving the NSF graduate research fellowship gives me the independence to pursue these questions and take ownership of the direction of my research,” Pfeffer said. 

Pfeffer said she took a break from her education for health reasons before beginning graduate school. Once she returned, however, she found the right environment at UIC to continue developing as a scientist. Earning the fellowship is a recognition of her potential as a researcher, she said. 

She credits UIC professor and head of the department of biomedical engineering Thomas Royston for his support and for connecting her with Tolou Shokuhfar and the In Situ Nanomedicine Laboratory at UIC, where she has continued her research. 

“The fellowship grew from the support of faculty members who saw my potential and helped me continue when my path forward was uncertain,” she said. “Dr. Royston helped me find the opportunity to move forward, and Dr. Shokuhfar gave me the trust, freedom and research environment I needed to begin believing in my abilities again.” 

For more information, visit the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship website. 

This story first appeared on UIC Today.