Academic Accolades

Anna Li

A Pitt student startup won the prestigious Hult Prize

Korion Health, a startup led by Pitt students, won $1 million in the competition, which challenges for-profit student entrepreneurs from around the world to create and launch businesses aimed at tackling the most pressing challenges they see in their communities. 

Parkhitko will use a new National Institute on Aging grant to study the methionine cycle

Assistant Professor Andrey Parkhitko earned a new grant from the National Institute on Aging to investigate whether the methionine cycle — a process crucial to many cellular functions — plays a role in controlling multiple hallmarks of aging.

Jill Stemple

GSPIA student was named as an acting state bureau director

Jill Stemple, a graduate student in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, has been named an acting bureau director within Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services.

Mark Paterson

Paterson works with UK team on 'More-than-human senses and sensations project

Mark Paterson, professor of sociology and distinguished visiting professor at the University of Bristol, worked on an interdisciplinary project and delivered a public lecture that explored the histories of scholarships considering senses beyond the human. 

Mohammed Bamyeh

Bamyeh earned an Einstein Fellowship

Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences professor Mohammed Bamyeh was recently awarded the Einstein Fellowship.

Michael Munin

Munin earned an American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine research award

The American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) will honor Pitt School of Medicine Professor Michael Munin with its 2024 Distinguished Researcher Award.

Public Health Building

2 Pitt graduate students were named public health ambassadors

Jaia Gallegos and Prathiksha Sivakumar were selected for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health’s (ASPPH) 2024-25 This Is Public Health Ambassador Cohort.

3 Pitt honors students presented at a Justice and Equity Honors Network gathering

3 Pitt honors students presented at a Justice and Equity Honors Network gathering

Cole Belling, Meghana Dodda and Gabriella Garvin presented their global Racial Equity Awareness Database (R.E.A.D.) and engaged in dialogue on combatting systemic racism and advancing racial equity.

Jessica Ghilani

Ghilani presented to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Jessica Ghilani, Pitt Cyber affiliate scholar and associate professor of communication at Pitt-Greensburg, presented “Science Communication, Misinformation and Trust.”

Jennifer Hirsch

Hirsch won the International Association for Relationship Research Teaching Award

Jennifer Hirsch, a teaching assistant professor in the department of psychology, has been awarded the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) Teaching Award.

Anna Li

Pitt student startup is a semifinalist for the Hult Prize

Korion Health, a startup led by Pitt students and founded by Anna Li, an MD/PhD student, has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the 15th Hult Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious social entrepreneurship competitions.

Alanna Howe

Pitt honors student selected for the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals

Alanna Howe, a sophomore in Pitt’s David C. Frederick Honors College, has been selected for the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals.

Panther statue

Waldeck awarded 2024 Edward W. Morley Medal

David Waldeck, professor of chemistry and director of the Gertrude E. and John M. Petersen Institute of Nanoscience and Engineering, was awarded the 2024 Edward W. Morley Medal by the Cleveland, Ohio, section of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Connor Diaz

Pitt junior named a 2024 Newman Civic fellow

Connor Diaz, a junior double majoring in history and law, criminal justice and society, was selected for the 2024-25 Newman Civic Fellowship, a yearlong program designed to help fellows enact positive change on their college campuses and in their communities. 

Cathedral of Learning

44 Pitt undergraduates received 2024 Brackenridge Fellowships

Recipients earn funding to conduct independent research, scholarship or creative work under the guidance of a Pitt faculty mentor.

Pitt flag on campus

16 students will research electrical grid sustainability through SHURE-Grid

16 students will perform research focused on improving electrical grid sustainability, developing verified vignettes and creating new knowledge building on cyber-informed engineering through SHURE-Grid.

Pitt biologists are part of a $12.5M NSF grant to study a widespread genetic phenomenon

Distinguished Professor Tia-Lynn Ashman and Assistant Professor Martin Turcotte, both of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, will use a tiny pond plant duckweed to tackle questions about the phenomenon ranging from the scale of genes to whole communities of organisms.

14 students and alumni named Fulbright scholars

Fourteen University of Pittsburgh students and alumni have been named award recipients by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international academic exchange program.

Cathedral of Learning

4 Pitt Business people honored by Pittsburgh’s AMA chapter

Four University of Pittsburgh students and alumni were recognized as “Up and Coming Marketers to Watch” by the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Marketing Association.

Cathedral of Learning

Pitt has three new National Endowment for the Humanities awardees

Adam Cilli, an assistant professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Mrinalini Rajagopalan, associate professor and chair of the Department of History of Art and Architecture, and Annette Vee, an associate professor of English, have received new grants for their research from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Chandralekha Singh

Singh received an AAPT award for physics education

Chandralekha Singh, a distinguished professor of physics in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has been named the John David Jackson Excellence in Graduate Physics Education Award winner for 2024, the American Association of Physics Teachers announced.

Anthony Grace

Grace among ScholarGPS’ Highly Ranked Scholars

Anthony A. Grace, distinguished professor of neuroscience, has been named a ScholarGPS Highly Ranked Scholar, a ranking that recognizes scholars for exceptional performances across fields, disciplines and specialties.

An academic building on campus

2 Pitt Medicine faculty earn AGA mentor awards

Robert E. Schoen is a professor of medicine and epidemiology, and Dhiraj Yadav is a professor of medicine and vice chair for clinical research within the Department of Medicine, have been honored with American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Council Section Research Mentor Awards.

Kale Serrato Doyen

PhD student Kale Serrato Doyen is a Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation fellow

Kale Serrato Doyen, who is pursuing a PhD in history of art and architecture at the University of Pittsburgh Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a 2024 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship.

Emily Elliott

Elliott selected as a fellow of the Ecological Society of America

Emily Elliott, a professor of geology and environmental science in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has been elected a fellow of the Ecological Society of America.

Norman Wolmark

Wolmark honored by the American Surgical Association

Norman Wolmark, professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, received the Medallion for the Advancement of Surgical Care from the American Surgical Association.

Brooke Rawls and Lawrence Uradu

2 Pitt faculty are on the New Pittsburgh Courier’s 40 under 40 list

Brooke Rawls, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, and Lawrence Uradu, assistant professor of radiology in the School of Medicine, are both members of this year’s class of young African American professionals in Greater Pittsburgh.

Exterior of the School of Medicine

A team led by Stephen Y. Chan received an American Heart Association award

Stephen Y. Chan, professor of medicine and director of Pitt’s Vascular Medicine Institute, will lead a University of Pittsburgh and Prairie View (Texas) A&M University research team as part of a $15 million award from the American Heart Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network on Inflammation in Cardiac and Neurovascular Disease.

A team of students at the National Bioethics Bowl

Pitt scored a top 10 finish in its first National Bioethics Bowl

A University of Pittsburgh team finished in ninth place at the National Bioethics Bowl on April 13 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It was the first time Pitt appeared in the competition.

Flowers blooming on campus

5 Pitt students earned Boren Awards to study language abroad

Five University of Pittsburgh students were named winners of Boren Awards, which provides funding for U.S. students to study abroad in critical world regions, learning languages and cultures.