<![CDATA[Stroka Lab - News]]>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:39:08 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Ariel awarded SPIRE Fellowship for summer 2026!]]>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 01:43:06 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/ariel-awarded-spire-fellowship-for-summer-2026Congratulations to undergraduate student Ariel Abraham, who has been awarded UMD's SPIRE Fellowship to support his research in the lab this summer! Great job, Ariel!]]><![CDATA[ken defends PhD dissertation!]]>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/ken-defends-phd-dissertationHuge congratulations to Ken Brandon, who defended his dissertation today!! Ken's dissertation develops a multiscale framework to investigate endothelial junction remodeling across molecular, temporal, and spatial scales. His work advances our understanding of the endothelial barrier as a dynamic and coordinated system and how it is altered when disrupted. Ken received multiple fellowships to support his work, including the Clark Doctoral Fellowship and the NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship. Ken's PhD work has resulted in 7 papers, including a first-author review, a first-author research paper published in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering that was selected for cover art, 3 co-authored papers, and 2 more first-author papers in preparation. He has presented his research at national and international conferences, including a talk at the BMES Annual Meeting and the Gordon Research Conference on Cell Contact and Adhesion in Switzerland, for which he received a competitive GRC travel award. Ken also received the Goldhaber Travel Award and the International Conference Travel Support Award from the UMD Graduate School. He has been a wonderful mentor to undergraduate students in the lab, including Azkah, who completed an Honors thesis under his mentorship and will be going on to a PhD program next year, and Yoshi, who entered a PhD program last year. Congratulations, Ken!
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]]><![CDATA[Ian wins the Charles Caramello Distinguished Dissertation Award!]]>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:07:03 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/ian-wins-the-charles-caramello-distinguished-dissertation-awardHuge congratulations to Dr. Ian Smith (PhD lab alum), who has been selected to receive the Charles Caramello Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Maryland! This award is given to 4 PhD students each year, and Ian was selected as this year's recipient for the "Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering" category.  
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Read more about the award here:
https://gradschool.umd.edu/funding/student-fellowships-awards/distinguished-dissertation-award]]><![CDATA[Lauryn wins 3rd place in poster competition at GRAD Day!]]>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 12:59:11 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/lauryn-wins-3rd-place-in-poster-competition-at-grad-dayCongratulations to first-year PhD student Lauryn McKenna, who was awarded third place in the poster competition at Graduate Research Appreciation Day! Lauryn's poster was titled, "Viscoelastic Tuning at the Blood-Brain Barrier." Awesome job, Lauryn!!]]><![CDATA[Shohini selected as 2026 Engineering Commencement Speaker!]]>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/shohini-selected-as-2026-engineering-commencement-speakerHuge congratulations to Shohini Banerjee, who was selected as this year's Engineering Commencement Speaker! We are so excited for you and proud of you, Shohini!!!]]><![CDATA[Shohini's paper accepted in Journal of Biological Physics!]]>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/shohinis-paper-accepted-in-journal-of-biological-physicsCongratulations to Shohini Banerjee, whose paper was accepted for publication in Journal of Biological Physics! Also thanks to co-authors, Dr. Corey Herr and Dr. Wolfgang Losert!]]><![CDATA[Azkah defends Honors thesis!]]>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/azkah-defends-honors-thesisHuge congratulations to senior undergraduate student, Azkah Anjum, who defended her Honors Thesis today!! Azkah's thesis is titled, "Investigating the Mechanics of Iron-Induced Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction in Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells." We are also excited to announce that Azkah will be joining Carnegie Mellon's BME PhD program this fall!! Congratulations, Azkah!!!]]><![CDATA[Collaborative paper accepted for publication in Advanced Materials Technologies!]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 08:00:00 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/collaborative-paper-accepted-for-publication-in-advanced-materials-technologiesCongratulations to lab alumnus, Dr. Ian Smith, who was co-author on this publication in collaboration with Steve Jay's lab!]]><![CDATA[Shohini defends her PhD!]]>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/shohini-defends-her-phdHuge congratulations to Shohini Banerjee, who defended her PhD today! Shohini joined the Stroka lab in August 2021, coming in with a clear passion for women's health research and endometriosis. Her dissertation focused on how hormonal and mechanical microenvironmental cues regulate dynamic cellular processes during endometriosis progression using accessible in vitro models. Shohini’s PhD work has resulted in 10 papers (5 first author), with 4 published, 5 in revision or submitted, and 1 in preparation. Shohini has presented her research at multiple national and international conferences, including the BMES annual meeting, the Society for Reproductive Investigation Annual Meeting, and the Congress of the Society of Endometriosis and Uterine Disorders (SEUD) in Geneva, Switzerland. She has received several fellowships and awards in support of her work, including the Clark Doctoral Fellowship, the Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship, a travel award from SEUD, and the Goldhaber Travel Award. She was also selected to attend the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Public Policy Institute in Washington, DC, and was a Clark School finalist in the Three Minute Thesis competition. Shohini has been a dedicated mentor to two undergraduate BIOE students in the lab - notably Esha, who received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and is now in a BME PhD program at RPI, and Nane, who was selected into our BS/MD program. Beyond her research, Shohini has served as a Writing Center Writing Fellow and is a woman of many talents - she plays flute in the UMD orchestra and is an accomplished dancer. Congratulations, Shohini!
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]]><![CDATA[Azkah receives MTech ASPIRE Award!]]>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:59:29 GMThttp://stroka.umd.edu/news/azkah-receives-mtech-aspire-awardCongratulations to undergraduate BIOE Honors student Azkah Anjum, who has received the MTech ASPIRE Award to support her Honors thesis research this semester!]]>