One Marquette senior and two alumni have been granted funds from the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Two others received honorable mentions.
Senior Nabil Othman (biocomputing) and recent alumni Jasmine Murray (biophysics, ’25) and Elsa Hahn (biological sciences, ’24) have each been awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which provides funding support for graduate students in STEM fields. Senior Jordan Dubek (biological sciences) and alumnus Sean Martin (biological sciences, ’25) were recognized as honorable mention recipients.
The GRFP is one of the nation’s most prestigious and competitive fellowship programs, providing significant support to outstanding graduates pursuing full-time, research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM fields, including STEM education. Established in 1952, the program is meant to recruit and support individuals who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions to research, teaching, and innovations in their fields.
Elsa Hahn is a research technician in the Uy Lab at the University of Rochester. In her work there, she collaborates with a fellow researcher to explore whether male and female Xenos peckii parasites affect the reproduction of their secondary host, male Polistes fuscatus wasps. At Marquette, Hahn studied biological sciences with a focus on biomedical technology and engineering and minored in writing-intensive English. She worked as a research assistant in Dr. Chelsea Cook’s lab, helping to spark her passion for research. In 2022, she was one of two Marquette students who took first place at the Big East Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium for their study of honeybees and how they work together to manage the temperature in their colony.
Jasmine Murray is a Ph.D. student at the University of Miami. Her research focuses on biomaterials, neural repair, and immunomodulation for applications in spinal cord injury and other neural disorders. At Marquette, Murray studied biophysics, minoring in chemistry. A member of both the University Honors Program and the U-Rise Scholars program, Jasmine was heavily involved in research, working in the Dr. Joseph Clark’s Lab and serving as a research assistant in the Neural Engineering, Interfacing, Modulation and Optimization (NEIMO) lab under Dr. Jordan Williams. As a recipient of the Amgen Scholars award, she worked as a research assistant in the Stathopoulos Lab at Caltech, and in 2023, she served as public health researcher through the Fundación Centro de Estudios Para La Paz (CEPPA) program, conducting research on the sexual exploitation of minors online and developing resources to educate and empower Costa Rican youth.
Nabil Othman is a senior majoring in biocomputing. As an Honors student and U-Rise Scholar, he has participated in research in the Integrative Neural Systems Laboratory (INSL) under the guidance of Dr. Scott Beardsley, associate professor of biomedical engineering and director of the INSL. He was also previously awarded an internship with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke through the National Institute of Health’s Summer Internship Program, and in the summer of 2024, he worked with Dr. Seth Tomchik at the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine. A strong innovator, Othman partnered with senior Ian Ortega to launch Kynetics, a company that creates affordable rehabilitation technologies to enhance recovery and human performance. The pair took first place in the second annual Marquette Invitational start-up pitch competition. Othman has opted to decline the GRFP award in favor of joining Adialante, a start-up founded by Marquette alumni, that builds portable MRI systems. Othman will be joining the team as a software engineer.
Jordan Dubeck, a senior double majoring in biological sciences and environmental sciences with a minor in chemistry, was awarded an honorable mention. An active undergraduate researcher, Dubeck has worked in Dr. Chelsea Cook’s lab, conducting experiments on thermoregulatory behavior and signaling in honeybees. She has presented her work on campus at the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences’ Annual Celebration of Research, in Milwaukee-area conferences and, in March, she was selected as one of six Marquette undergraduates selected to compete at the annual Big East Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium.
Sean Martin, a PhD student in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Chicago, was also awarded an honorable mention. At Marquette, Martin majored in biological science with minors in chemistry and neuroscience. He launched his research career by working in Dr. Anita Manogaran’s lab, studying protein aggregation and its associated diseases. In 2024, Martin also participated in a Research Experience Undergraduate (REU) at the University of Chicago, working in the Pincus Lab to explore how cells respond to complex stress environments to survive. Martin was an active member of the University Honors Program and the MU4Gold Scholars program, earning a summer research fellowship that supported his independent research under the supervision of Dr. Manogaran.
