Meet the 2019 STAT Wunderkinds
Our search for the next generation of scientific superstars had a stellar third year.
We set out to celebrate the unheralded heroes of science and medicine. We found inspiring stories each year (have a look at the class of 2017 and the class of 2018), and we did again this year.
Over the past several months, a team of STAT editors and reporters pored through hundreds of nominations from across North America. We didn’t set an age limit; we were on the hunt for the most impressive doctors and researchers on the cusp of launching their careers but not yet fully independent. All are blazing new trails as they attempt to answer some of the biggest questions in science and medicine.
Introducing this year’s class of STAT Wunderkinds.
Limo Chen
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Limo Chen wants to improve immunotherapy so more patients benefit. Fighting resistance is one way to do that.
Yamicia Connor
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Surgeon and scientist Yamicia Connor thrives on the creativity of science and the immediacy of surgery.
Ryan Denu
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ryan Denu’s motivation: “How can I make the biggest impact I can during my time here on this earth?”
Amy Dunn
The Jackson Laboratory
Amy Dunn studies environmental factors that might influence Alzheimer’s — and she talks about that science to students in rural Maine.
Gloria Echeverria
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Gloria Echeverria wants to help the 50% of patients with triple-negative breast cancer who don’t respond to chemo.
Niyi Fadeyi
Merck Exploratory Science Center
Niyi Fadeyi’s interest in chemistry was sparked when a high school science teacher showed the class the chemical structure of garri, a food staple in his native Nigeria.
Di Feng
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Di Feng feels a familial connection to hypertension and kidney disease. Her research has linked a rare kidney disease to these more common illnesses.
Bruno Miguel da Cruz Godinho
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Bruno Miguel da Cruz Godinho blended biology and chemistry into a career in pharmacy, but his love of laboratory research had a stronger pull.
Greg Haro
University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Greg Haro’s background as a professional trumpet player led him to a career in medicine.
Nora Kory
Whitehead Institute
Studying microscopic compartments of the cell makes up just one side of Kory: She also sings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Sara LaHue
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
Sara LaHue studies cognitive impairment in older people — which she emphasizes is not a part of normal aging.
Jeff Morgan
University of Utah
Jeff Morgan likes to blaze his own trail where there hasn’t been a lot of prior research.
Junaid Nabi
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Junaid Nabi asks one universal question: How can we make delivery of health care more equitable?
Sudhakar Nuti
Massachusetts General Hospital
Sudhakar Nuti blends primary care medicine, health care research, and public service.
Victoria Poole
Hebrew SeniorLife
Victoria Poole’s mother inspired her career in biomedical engineering. She was a role model and “a bionic woman of sorts.”
Cristina Poveda Cuevas
Baylor College of Medicine
Cristina Poveda Cuevas is developing a vaccine against Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease caused by a parasite in which she sees beauty.
Ritu Raman
MIT
Ritu Raman wants to develop biohybrid devices that can react to what’s happening in an individual patient at any given time.
Sam Rodriques
MIT
Sam Rodriques focuses on putting the context back into scientific inquiry, particularly in neuroscience.
Juergen Scharner
Stoke Therapeutics
Applying abstract theories to real life, whether underwater or deep within the genetic machinery of disease, has always been Juergen Scharner’s bent.
Reed Siemieniuk
McMaster University
Reed Siemiunuk has always been struck by how little certainty there is in medicine and dismayed by how often clinical guidelines fall short.
Natalia Sizochenko
Dartmouth College
Natalia Sizochenko explores scientific questions through computational techniques while consistently sharing her love of science with others.
Jonathan Strecker
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Jonathan Strecker is figuring out how to develop next-generation CRISPR genome-editing technology.
The Wunderkinds were selected solely by STAT's editorial staff. The award sponsor had no input in the decision-making process and the awardees have received no financial benefit from the sponsor.