Awards

Congratulations to Mikaela Bray, research trainee in the Barroilhet Research Team, who received a Cancer Trainee Network Travel/Professional Development Award! Bray can use the $1,000 award towards attendance at a conference, workshop, training, certification, or related activity that will support her cancer research in the Barroilhet Lab. The award is given by the UW Carbon... more

Congratulations to Irene Ong, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Reproductive Sciences, who received an Igniting interdisciplinary Innovation (I3) award from the University of Wisconsin–Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research! Ong received the $250,000 grant for the project From AI Innovation to Clinical Impact: Closing the Gap for Reliable AI-based Dise... more

The Endocrine Society hosted ENDO 2026 in Chicago June 13-26, 2026. Molly Willging, PhD, former mentee in the lab of David Abbott, PhD, professor in the Division of Reproductive Sciences, earned an Outstanding Abstract Award at the conference.Willging, who is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, received the award for t... more

Congratulations to Laura Birkeland, MS, assistant professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine! Birkeland was selected to receive the 2026 University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Dean’s Teaching Award. Birkeland, who is a certified genetic counselor, currently serves program director for the Masters of Genetic Counselor Studies (MGCS) program at ... more

Congratulations to Paula Mañán Mejías, graduate student in the lab of María Virumbrales-Muñoz, PhD! Mañán Mejías was selected as the 2026 recipient of the UW Carbone Cancer Center’s Thomas and Bonnie Minter Graduate Student Cancer Research Award. Mañán Mejías will use the award to attend the 2027 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, wh... more

Huge congratulations to Michael Berube, DVM, PhD, who received the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research! Berube is a postdoctoral research associate in the labs of Lisa Barroilhet, MD, MS, associate professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and María Virumbrales-Muñoz, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Reproduct... more

Huge congratulations to Claire Wendland, MD, PhD, professor in the Division of Reproductive and Population Health and the UW–Madison Department of Anthropology! Wendland was selected as a Class of 2026 Guggenheim Fellow, as awarded by the Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. She receives the award for her work in African Studies.Wendland, who i... more

Congratulations to Ellinore Letts, an undergraduate student in the Virumbrales-Muñoz Lab, who was selected for a Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship! Ellinore is currently a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering. The Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship supports undergraduates to complete an independent research project under the mentorship ... more