Graduate Studies Celebrates 2024-25 Honors and Awards, and Acknowledges Incoming Fellows

Graduate Studies is pleased to announce and recognize the dedicated and talented individuals who have earned awards and recognition for their outstanding achievements in the 2024-25 academic year, as well as acknowledge incoming fellows.

The following graduate students and postdoctoral students are recognized for their exceptional contributions in research and teaching. The incoming cohorts for the President's Postdoctoral Fellowships / Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowships and Professors for the Future program are also listed.

Dissertation Awards

Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology

The Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology is awarded to the student who best demonstrates "scholarly achievement and promise for teaching and research.”  The recipients of the Carlson Prize receive an award of $3,000, a certificate commemorating the Prize, and their name will be inscribed on the Carlson Prize plaque in the Carlson Library.

Awarded to Cyrrus Espino, Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology             
Major Professor: Theanne Griffith                                                                                   
Dissertation Title: "Deciphering the Unique Roles of Voltage-gated Sodium Channel Subtypes in Mammalian Proprioceptros" 

The John Kinsella Award

The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) has established the Kinsella Memorial Prize in honor of the late Dean and Professor John Kinsella. The annual award of $3,500 is given to two outstanding individuals based on the quality and originality of the work, the multidisciplinary impact of the research, and the importance of the research to the college’s mission to serve agriculture, the environment, and human health and development.

Awarded to Zhenglin Zhang, Ecology Graduate Group
Major Professor: Bruce Linquist
Dissertation Title: "Effect of a Year-long Fallow on Carbon-Nitrogen Cycling in California Continuous Rice Systems and Perspectives on Net System Greenhouse Gas Emissions Accounting"

The Max Kleiber Prize

This prize was established to honor the 60-year career of Professor Max Kleiber in recognition of his outstanding success in elucidating metabolic relationships in intact animals. The award is given to a nominee who best represents the characteristics and high standards of scholastics and professional ethics that guided Professor Kleiber’s career.

Awarded to Mohammad Pourhosseinzadeh, Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology 
Major Professor: Mark Huising
Dissertation Title: "The Role of Paracrine Signaling and Gap Junction Coupling in Beta Cell Inhibition"

The Allen G. Marr Prize

The Allen G. Marr Prize was established in honor of Allen G. (Jerry) Marr's 20-year contribution as Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and his commitment to the highest standards of scholarship and professional ethics. A prize is awarded by Graduate Studies to a doctoral student in honor of superior dissertation work. Each year the competition is in different discipline areas. The fields of competition for the 2022 award were Biological Sciences/Life Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts.

Humanities
Awarded to Kirsten Schuhmacher, English
Major Professor: Tiffany Jo Werth
Dissertation Title: "Sententious Figures: Early Modern English Poesy in Liminal Space"

STEM
Awarded to Heather Spooner, Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology
Major Professor: Rose E. Dixon
Dissertation Title: "Regulation of Cardiac L-type Calcium Channels by 14-3-3 and BIN1"

The Zuhair A. Munir Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in Engineering

The Zuhair A. Munir Award for the Best Doctoral Dissertation honors former Dean of the College of Engineering Zuhair A. Munir. Munir led the College from 2000 to 2002 and acted as its Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for 20 years. This Award will not only honors the individual who submitted the best doctoral dissertation within the College of Engineering during the eligibility period and publicizes their outstanding research but also acknowledges the mentorship of the major professor. The award consists of a plaque and honorarium of $1000 for the student.

Awarded to Rachel Mizenko, Biomedical Engineering
Major Professor: Randy Carney
Dissertation Title: "EV Heterogeneity: An Essential Feature for Intercellular Communication in Health and Disease and an Underutilized Resource in the Clinic"

Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Awards

The Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award (OGTA) recognizes the contributions of graduate students to teaching and learning at UC Davis. This is a tremendously important award as it honors outstanding graduate students, reminds the campus that teaching is a central part of the university’s mission, and can inspire students and professors to give increased attention to the educational process.

• Nicholas Stillman, English
• Sharissa Andersen, Animal Biology
• Lucy Rios, Public Health Sciences
• Connor FitzGerald, Mathematics
• Kartik Patwari, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Wendah Alvarez, Native American Studies
• Gabriela Del Toro Rivera, Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology
• Alexa Federice, Political Science
• Felina Loya, Integrative Genetics and Genomics
• Timea Balogh, Political Science

2024-25 Postdoctoral Research Excellence Awards

The winners of the 2024-25 Postdoctoral Research Excellence Awards were announced at the 10th annual Postdoctoral Scholars Research Symposium this past April. The postdoctoral scholars were selected based on their outstanding research accomplishments as well as their commitment to diversity and inclusion, mentorship, service and/or public scholarship. Award recipients will receive $500 to assist in their continued professional development.

• Maria Ximena Anleu Gil, Ph.D.
• Uzma Ashraf, Ph.D.
• Andrea Duane, Ph.D.
• Sarah Kakadellis, Ph.D.
• Shu Ning, Ph.D.
• Hania Shahzad, M.D.

2025-2026 incoming President's Postdoctoral Fellowships and Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowships

The President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (CPFP) offer postdoctoral research fellowships and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at the University of California. The following are new PPFP and CPFP Fellows at UC Davis.

President's Postdoctoral Fellows

• Amanda Burcroff, Mathematics
• Sandy Sum, Agricultural and Resource Economics

Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellows

• Miguel Castaneda, Chicana and Chicano Studies
• Amy Fallas, History
• Paolina Lu, American Studies
• Gabriel Regaldo, African American Studies

2025-2026 Professors for the Future Fellows

The Professors for the Future (PFTF) program is a competitive, leadership-development program that provides outstanding Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars with an unparalleled opportunity to develop leadership prowess, refine problem-solving skills and, acquire an advanced understanding of the university system.