MolES honors students with awards for research and service

Filed Under: AwardsNews

June 12, 2026


The University of Washington’s Institute for Molecular Engineering and Sciences (MolES) recognized outstanding students with its annual MolES Student Awards.  

 
Distinguished Dissertation Awards

Headshot of Gizem Gökçe-Alpkılıç


Gizem Gökçe-Alpkılıç, PhD, advised by Guarav Bhardwaj, was recognized for her exceptional contribution in advancing a research direction at the interface of medicinal chemistry, protein engineering, chemical biology, and artificial intelligence.  
 
“Her work helped establish experimental and computational workflows that are now being used by many other students and researchers in the field,” said Bhardwaj. “The broader impact of Gizem’s innovation is substantial: AI-enabled molecular design has enormous potential, but its progress depends on rigorous experimental validation and high-quality feedback data.”


Cassandra Maranas, PhD, advised by Jennifer Nemhauser, was honored for her work in building sophisticated genetic tools and using them to answer questions with relevance to synthetic engineering and fundamental molecular/cellular/developmental biology. 
 
“Cassandra’s efforts led to major advances in the field of plant synthetic biology and provide provocative ideas about how we might best engineer crops for a future with much less predictable weather patterns, for example flood and drought in the same growing season,” said Nemhauser.

Scientific Achievement Award

Fourth-year MolE graduate student Anika Gupta was awarded for being a driving force behind the new direction of research in the Kuchina lab by applying the lab’s single-cell transcriptomics approach for studying gut phage-host interactions at high resolution. 
 
“Her work provides a crucial step towards understanding and quantifying mechanisms of phage resistance,” said Advisor Anna Kuchina.

Service Awards 

Second-year MolE graduate student Jordan Koehler, advised by Patrick Stayton, was recognized for her efforts in volunteering weekly with UW Science Explorers to teach engaging lessons to young students, along with contributing valuable ideas to the MolES Graduate Student Association (GSA) community development committee and ensuring events ran smoothly.

First year MolE graduate student Daniel Mendoza, was recognized for his dedication to supporting underrepresented voices in STEM, and connecting the public with research and conservation through his work with the UW Chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and as a Seattle Aquarium volunteer.