DePalma Awarded 2022-23 Presidential Fellowship

Thomas DePalma, a PhD Candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering is a 2022-2023 recipient of the Presidential Fellowship. The Graduate School announced the 2022-2023 Presidential Fellowship recipients on November 29th, 2022. The Presidential Fellowship is the most prestigious award given by the Graduate School to recognize the outstanding scholarly accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project.

DePalma is advised by Professor Aleks Skardal, and his dissertation research focuses on developing microphysiological systems to model glioblastoma.

DePalma stated "The Skardal lab uses engineered hydrogels and microfluidic devices to create models of disease. My project is focused on using these systems to create models of the brain and the blood brain barrier (BBB). We aim to use these models to study the changes that occur to the brain and the BBB during glioblastoma, a form of primary brain cancer. Specifically, we are interested in how different populations of cells influence BBB integrity and evade drug treatment."