Clarkson University Graduate Student Lindsay Avolio of Norwich, N.Y., Awarded NSF Fellowship

2016 May 5

Clarkson University graduate student Lindsay Avolio of Norwich, N.Y., a Ph.D. candidate in the Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Biotechnology Program, has been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship for 2016.

Avolio works with Asst. Prof. Shantanu Sur's Cell-Material Interactions Lab, where she considers the effects of substrate characteristics on cell behavior. Her NSF proposal is on the development of a microparticle based inhalational delivery system to induce an effective immune response against cancer. She hopes to use her unique background not only to advance the field of immunomodulation, but also to promote communication between the public realm and scientific community.

Avolio graduated from Clarkson in 2015 with a dual degree in biology and interdisciplinary social sciences with a concentration in women and gender studies and a minor in chemistry. The summer of her sophomore year she was awarded an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Clarkson under the mentorship of Prof. Michael Twiss, where she considered the influence of trace elements on phytoplankton communities in the St. Lawrence River. She later continued this work and aided in the design and implementation of a long-term water quality data collection station along the river. As a senior, she conducted an analysis of publications in various American Medical Journals to study the relationship between alternative medicine and the conventional healthcare system under the mentorship of Assoc. Prof. Stephen Casper and was awarded first place in a statewide conference.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) received close to 17,000 applications for the 2016 competition and made 2,000 award offers. NSF fellows are expected to contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering fields.

Benefits of the award include a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees (paid to the institution), opportunities for international research and professional development, and freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. graduate institution they choose.

Clarkson University educates the leaders of the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as an owner, CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. With its main campus located in Potsdam, New York, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the Capital Region and Beacon, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university with signature areas of academic excellence and research directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through more than 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, education, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo and connect discovery and innovation with enterprise.