Katherine Blackmore, PhD ’21, received a 2021 Chorafas Foundation Award for outstanding work in the selected fields of engineering sciences, medicine, and natural sciences for her work on metabolic syndrome.
With her PhD program advisor, Colin Young, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and physiology at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), Blackmore, who started a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in August, conducted her dissertation work on molecular mechanisms and circuits in the brain that contribute to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
“Kate’s project required her to incorporate a number of interdisciplinary approaches – from genomics to in vivo physiology to state-of-the art neuroscience – to understand the molecular, endocrine, and autonomic mechanisms involved in fatty liver disease,” wrote David Mendelowitz, PhD, interim chair and professor in the SMHS Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, in his letter of recommendation for Blackmore. He added that Blackmore completed her PhD with three first author manuscripts on topics she developed and pursued, as well as several co-author publications.
The Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation rewards research characterized by its high potential for practical application and by the special significance attached to its aftermath. Each year, 21 partner universities from 13 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia evaluate the research work of their graduating doctoral students and propose the best for judging. The foundation then awards prizes to the best doctoral students in categories representing life sciences and medicine, physics, chemistry (including nanotechnology), mathematics, informatics/computer science, and engineering, and finance, risk management. The annual awards include a $5,000 prize.
