Category: News

MolES honors students with awards for research and service

Posted on by allisn3
Event room filled with attendees standing and sitting at round tables.

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.”

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Engineering the Future

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Gizem Gökçe-Alpkılıç wearing doctoral graduation gown and doctoral tam.

June 11, 2026 | By by Malavika Jagannathan, University Marketing & Communications
Photos credits: Mark Stone and provided by Gizem Gökçe-Alpkılıç

Equipped with her molecular engineering doctorate, recent grad Gizem Gökçe-Alpkılıç is using AI-powered tools to create proteins and solve global challenges, like drug-resistant infection.

As a young child, Gizem Gökçe-Alpkılıç asked her parents for a microscope to allow her to dissect the world around her. She’s still looking at life’s smallest parts today at the UW’s Institute for Protein Design (IPD) — just with a few more sophisticated tools at her disposal.   Read More

2026 MolES Catalyst Awards support collaborative microbial research initiatives  

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Six headshots of award recipients stacked in two rows with text that reads 2026 MolES Catalyst Awards

May 27, 2026

Six headshots of award recipients stacked in two rows with text that reads 2026 MolES Catalyst Awards
L to R: Monica Guo, Lauren Rajakovich, Sid Venkatesh, Anna Kuchina, Sean Gibbons and Joshua Elmore
Photos: Institute for Systems Biology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and University of Washington

Three University of Washington faculty-led teams received the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute’s (MolES’s) 2026 Catalyst Awards. These awards seed new research initiatives and support preliminary data generation. Each team will receive $5,000 in award funding to help launch their collaborative research.

In April, participants in the MolES-sponsored Microbial Engineering Scientific Exchange were invited to collaborate with fellow scientists on microbial engineering research projects and apply for catalyst award funding. Read More

UW research team creates a new type of optical chip

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Closeup of programmable photonic integrated circuit.

A research team led by Arka Majumdar, MolES faculty member and UW Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) and Physics professor, has engineered a new type of optical microchip. This programmable photonic integrated circuit was fabricated in the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) and is low power, electrically reconfigurable, and can be mass-produced. Read more about this chip that has the potential to be applied in a wide range of technologies, including information processing, sensing, imaging, machine learning and artificial intelligence here. Read More

AIMBE Recognizes Leader in Cytometry and Biomedical Engineering: Daniel T. Chiu, Ph.D.

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Daniel Chiu holding award alongside two individuals.

May 4, 2026

The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) recently elected Daniel T. Chiu — professor of Bioengineering, Joint A. Bruce Montgomery Professor of Chemistry, and MolES faculty member — to the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2026.

Dr. Chiu is recognized for his work in developing nanomaterials that have transformed single-molecule detection — an achievement that speaks to his exceptional leadership and scientific impact. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to medical and biological engineers, comprised of the top two percent of engineers in these fields.  Read More

NIH-funded team led by Berndt lab aims to supercharge protein sensor engineering

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Headshot of Andre Berndt with text reading: Congratulations Berndt Lab National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative Grant

April 29, 2026


Congratulations to Berndt lab on receiving an $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) BRAIN Initiative. In an article produced by the Institute for Stem-Cell & Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) and UW Medicine, learn how MolES faculty members Andre Berndt, associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering, and Doug Fowler, professor in the Department of Genome Sciences, are partnering in a multi‑institution collaboration to enhance protein sensor technology and give scientists improved tools to observe brain activity in real time with even greater precision. Read More

MolES’ Scientific Exchange sparks microbial engineering collaborations

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Researchers standing lined up in a group of two rows.

April 21, 2026

On April 8, the University of Washington Molecular Engineering and Sciences (MolES) Institute hosted a Scientific Exchange on Microbial Engineering to catalyze new collaborations, share tools and expertise, and seed pilot projects. 

Held in Foege Hall, the event convened 20 scientists from the Fred Hutch, Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and University of Washington. Speakers gave five-minute lightning talks during three different sessions focused on:

  • Genetic Engineering, Genome Design and Synthetic Biology
  • Microbial Physiology, Metabolism and Cellular Function
  • Microbial Interactions, Community Dynamics and Host/Environment Interfaces
Microbial researchers standing in a group.
Researchers from the Seattle area gather during the Microbial Engineering Scientific Exchange held this month.
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Shijie Cao’s PRIME Lab Receives NSF CAREER Award

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Shijie Cao headshot with NSF's official logo.

April 17, 2026

Shijie Cao, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics, leads the PRIME Lab (Pharmaceutical Research in Immune & Microbiome Engineering Laboratory) at MolES. The lab’s research on the gut microbiome and the compounds it produces was recently recognized with a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. In this profile produced by UW School of Pharmacy, discover how PRIME lab’s research could support treatments for chronic inflammatory disease.

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