Future knowledge experts
Photos by Evan Krape May 14, 2025
Three UD students and alumni selected for prestigious NSF graduate research fellowships
Diabetes is a condition that results when the body’s blood sugar is too high. It affects 10% of the population worldwide, according to the National Institutes of Health.
For some individuals, this blood sugar imbalance can cause diabetic foot ulcers, a type of chronic wound that can increase a person’s mortality risk. While there are ways to manage diabetic foot ulcers, few methods exist to effectively treat them.
University of Delaware senior Altaf Bacchus hopes to change that.
Working under the guidance of Millicent Sullivan, Alvin B. and Julia O. Stiles Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UD, Bacchus has been evaluating gene therapy strategies to deliver DNA to cells within chronic wounds to encourage healing.
“The reason a chronic wound is so bad is because it's stuck in the inflammation phase,” Bacchus said. “Our work aims to deliver a signal that transitions a chronic wound from the inflammatory phase to the healing phase.”
Bacchus, who will earn an honors bachelor of chemical engineering degree and a minor in biochemical engineering this month, is one of three current UD students and alumni who have won prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Student Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards for 2025.
The highly competitive fellowship supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and STEM education. Fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $37,000 and a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees.
“The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship is the most prestigious and visible awards that a STEM graduate student can receive,” said Lou Rossi, dean of the Graduate College and vice provost for graduate and professional education. “As a research-intensive institution, our mission is far more than making great discoveries. Our mission is to develop the young minds who will be making great discoveries long after they graduate. We are grateful for the Graduate Research Fellowship support that our students receive and for the contributions of these amazing students.”
NSF fellows are considered future knowledge experts who will go on to become lifelong leaders, innovators and teachers.
Bacchus credited his UD education with preparing him to succeed as an NSF graduate fellow. His relationship with UD began before he was a matriculated student. Between high school graduation and his first year at UD, Bacchus conducted summer research with Kevin Solomon, the Thomas and Kipp Gutshall Career Development Associate Professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering. That experience, Bacchus said, provided a foundation in biotechnology and synthetic biology, while his research in the Sullivan lab expanded this interest in biotechnology for drug delivery.
He also participated in UD’s summer and winter scholars programs, as well as an MIT Summer Research Program, which is a research experience for undergraduates. These experiences, along with his membership in the Assistive Medical Technologies club at UD, expanded his understanding of translational medicine and patient-centered needs.
Bacchus will pursue doctoral studies this fall at Georgia Institute of Technology to study bioengineering and plans to one day work in industry on vaccine development to improve human health.
Alumni awardees
Two UD alumni also were awarded fellowships this year to continue their graduate research:
Richard Egan, honors biomedical engineering
Matthew Stangl, honors life sciences/cell biology, University of California, Berkeley
Honorable mentions
An additional 10 UD students and eight alumni earned honorable mentions.
Current UD students (undergraduate and graduate):
Maxwell Bobbin, chemical engineering
Yuca C. Chen, physics and astronomy, particle physics
Mackenzie Conner, biomedical engineering
Luke Coster, honors life sciences-biochemistry
Olivia Dyer, biomedical engineering
Yuleny Gomez Rodriguez, geoscience-biological oceanography
Solomon Hendrix, life sciences-systematics and biodiversity
Keely Laurence, biomedical engineering
Brennagh Shields, biomedical engineering
Sabrina Vander Wiele, biomedical engineering
UD alumni:
Gregory Biddle, life sciences-organismal biology
Nicole Alexa Gill, honors chemical engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Samuel Koeck, honors geosciences-chemical oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Saurav Padhye, honors chemical engineering, Carnegie-Mellon University
Nolan Petrich, honors chemical engineering, University of Colorado-Boulder
Manju Sivasankar, honors biomedical engineering, Northwestern University
Timothy Smoot, honors geosciences-marine ecology
Derek Griffin Wu, honors life sciences-ecology, Emory University
Application support available
UD's Office of National Fellowships (ONF) supports students and alumni as they apply for a wide range of nationally competitive fellowships, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. ONF works with students through individualized advising, application essay writing workshops and interview preparation. Students interested in applying to the NSF GRFP should contact ONF at national-fellowships@udel.edu.
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