Sixteen students affiliated with Rice University’s Department of Bioengineering have been named 2026 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellows, underscoring the department’s continued record of academic excellence.
The fellowship is highly competitive, with recipients selected from a pool of nearly 14,000 scholars nationwide. As one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished fellowships, it supports graduate students who are poised to make significant contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“The NSF fellowship is one of the most prestigious honors given to early-career scientists and engineers,” said Cynthia Reinhart-King, department chair and the John W. Cox Chair of Bioengineering. “Seeing such a strong cohort of our undergraduate and graduate students is a testament to the caliber of the talent in Rice Bioengineering.”
For nearly 75 years, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program has helped strengthen the nation’s scientific workforce. Rice Bioengineering’s fellows are addressing critical challenges in human health and biotechnology, reinforcing the university’s role in shaping the future of these fields.
“These fellowships provide financial support, but they are so much more than that,” said Reinhart-King. “These awards acknowledge our students’ accomplishments and their potential to drive the next generation of discoveries and innovations in healthcare. We are immensely proud of them.”
Several current bioengineering doctoral students were selected as 2026 NSF Graduate Research Fellows, including:
- Caleb Dang, from the lab of Amanda Nash
- Jonathan Lawrence Fascetti, from the lab of Kevin McHugh
- Calvin S. Paulsen, from the lab of Jessica Butts
- Eleanor Louann Sabalewski, from the lab of Kelsey Swingle
Incoming doctoral students named fellows include Hamzeh Al-Qawasmi, Esha Ananth, Chance Alexander French, Eva Frances Gbur, Isabella Vasquez and Evan Wang.
Rice Bioengineering seniors who received NSF fellowships for graduate study this fall include Ruhi Rachakonda, Alex Sansom and Owen Yuhas.
Alumni Samantha Lydon ’25, Jonathan Makhoul ’25 and Mary Mikos ’25 were also awarded fellowships for research at their current institutions. Incoming Rice graduate student Parth Rana received honorable mention.
NSF Graduate Research Fellows at Rice will be formally recognized in fall 2026 at the annual “Take the Cake” celebration, which brings together the campus community to honor students who have received significant external fellowships.