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Category: Awards

NIH backs Olanrewaju lab’s build faster, low-cost HIV medication tests

August 11, 2026

Ayọ̀kúnlé Ọlánrewájú — MolES faculty member and assistant professor of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering — has received a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With this funding provided by NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Ọlánrewájú and his multidisciplinary team will focus on designing faster and more affordable HIV medication tests [...]

Dr. Cole DeForest receives renewed funding from NIH for studying biology in 4D

July 29, 2026

July 29, 2026 | UW Chemical Engineering Cole DeForest — MolES director of education and Weyerhaeuser endowed professor of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering — received a funding extension of five years from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will support his lab in developing methods for studying human development and disease progression. Learn more about [...]

Dr. Jorge Marchand receives NIH funding to grow the “biocatalytic toolkit” for therapeutics

July 22, 2026

July 22, 2026 | UW Chemical Engineering Jorge Marchand, MolES faculty member and assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, has received the prestigious Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Designed to provide highly talented and promising investigators with stable funding, this five-year grant will support Dr. Marchand’s research [...]

MolES honors students with awards for research and service

June 12, 2026

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 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 [...]

2026 MolES Catalyst Awards support collaborative microbial research initiatives

May 27, 2026

May 27, 2026 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 [...]

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

May 4, 2026

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 [...]

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

April 29, 2026

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, [...]

Shijie Cao’s PRIME Lab Receives NSF CAREER Award

April 17, 2026

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 [...]

Three MolES Faculty Researchers named AAAS Fellows

March 31, 2026

March 31, 2026 | Full UW News Release The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named MolES faculty members David Baker, Maitreya Dunham and David J. Masiello AAAS Fellows. They are among 449 newly elected fellows from around the world, who are recognized for their “scientifically and socially distinguished achievements” in science [...]

David Baker elected to National Academy of Engineering

March 3, 2026

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Matthew Golder named 2026 Sloan Fellow

March 3, 2026

March 3, 2026 | Diana Knight (UW Chemistry) Matthew Golder has been selected as a 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Chemistry. These two-year, $75,000 fellowships are awarded yearly to 126 early-career researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field. Assistant Professor Matthew Golder’s research program addresses [...]

UW ECE Professor Lih-Yuan Lin named National Academy of Inventors Fellow

January 22, 2026

The University of Washington Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (UW ECE) congratulates Professor Lih-Yuan Lin, who has been elected into the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2025 Class of Fellows. This distinction recognizes her outstanding work and lasting impact in nanotechnology, photonics, and optoelectronics — fields that are shaping the future of technology. Lin is one of only 10 UW faculty members to ever receive this honor. She will be formally inducted as an NAI Fellow and presented with a medal by a senior official of the United States Patent and Trademark Office at the NAI 15th Annual Conference on June 4, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. [...]

AI enlisted to design vaccines against pandemic threats

October 10, 2024

Medicine will lead one of the seven new centers in a network funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to prepare against a variety of dangerous pathogens. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health. The center will receive $13.6 million a year for three years. [...]

Olivia Dotson recognized as 2024 Husky 100

April 30, 2024

Each year, the Husky 100 recognizes 100 undergraduate and graduate students from the UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma campuses in all areas of study who are making the most of their time at the University of Washington. [...]

Lih Lin inducted into the 2024 class of the AIMBE College of Fellows

April 4, 2024

Lih Lin, a Molecular Engineering & Sciences faculty member and electrical & computer engineering professor, was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows last month. [...]

Celebrating distinguished graduates in Molecular Engineering & Sciences

September 5, 2023

Sept. 5 2023 The Molecular Engineering Ph.D. program saw its largest graduating class in the 2022-2023 academic year, with 20 students successfully defending their theses. These graduates represent four cohorts and interdisciplinary research across 13 different departments and organizations. The newest alums were recognized in a graduation celebration on June 1. During the ceremony, Cholpisit [...]

Recognizing excellence in molecular engineering

June 9, 2022

The MolE alumni community continues to grow, with an additional nine students graduating in the 2021-2022 academic year. This year, in recognition of their exemplary scholarship, we presented graduates Will Chen and Ted Cohen our inaugural Distinguished Dissertation Award in Molecular Engineering. [...]

Corie L. Cobb awarded DARPA Director’s Fellowship

January 24, 2022

Corie L. Cobb, professor of mechanical engineering and the Washington Research Foundation Innovation Professor in Clean Energy, has been selected as recipient of the prestigious Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director's Fellowship Award. [...]

MolES faculty members elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences

July 16, 2021

Chemistry Professors Alshakim Nelson and Munira Khalil are among the 38 new members of the Washington State Academy of Sciences recognized for their "outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to work on behalf of the Academy to bring the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington." [...]

UW researcher recognized in NNCI image contest

December 28, 2020

MSE research assistant professor Shuai Zhang was recognized for his submission to the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) Image Contest 2020. This annual contest, called "Plenty of Beauty at the Bottom," celebrates the beauty of the micro and nanoscale. Images featured were produced at one of the 16 NNCI sites during the past year. Zhang's image, "Protein Chess [...]