Gilpin wins NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Anna Gilpin has been named a graduate research fellow by the National Science Foundation.

Anna Gilpin, a senior biomedical engineering major in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources from Martinsburg has been named a Graduate Research Fellow by the National Science Foundation.

Through the GRFP, Gilpin will pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering at Duke University, intending to work in the research and development of biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications.

"I am honored to have received the fellowship, which will allow me the freedom to pursue my specific research interests in graduate school,” Gilpin said. “I would like to thank my undergraduate research advisor,Yong Yang, who has helped me to become an independent researcher through his encouragement and guidance."

Gilpin is a member of the Honors College and was awarded the prestigious national Goldwater Scholarship in 2017 to supplement her studies in regenerative medicine. Through the scholarship, she was able to continue her research on the development of non-damaging methods of decellularization using supercritical carbon dioxide.

In 2015, she presented at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers national student conference, and in 2016, she received a summer research fellowship from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Jared Beard, an Honors mechanical engineering student in the Statler College and former Goldwater Scholar, and Holly Fitzgerald, a graduate student in clinical psychology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences also received honorable mention for the GRFP.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based masters and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines or in STEM education.

Fellows receive a stipend of $34,000 annually for three years, along with a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees, opportunities for international research and professional development and the freedom to conduct their research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose. This year, the GRFP received more than 13,000 applications and made just 2,000 award offers.

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