09
November
2022
|
19:26 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

BioE Senior Anna Maywar Nominated for Churchill Scholarship

Anna Maywar

Anna Maywar, senior bioengineering major at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, is one of two Pitt students nominated for the Churchill Scholarship

The Churchill Scholarship funds one year of graduate study or research in STEM fields at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge in the UK. 

Maywar was nominated for her outstanding academic achievements and research endeavors while at the Swanson School. She has worked in the Medical Devices Lab at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine with Ryan Orizondo and William Federspiel, where she helped develop a device to remove cell-free plasma hemoglobin from the blood of patients undergoing extracorporeal therapies (e.g. life support). She also worked with Lance Davidson and Carsten Stuckenholz in the Mechanics of Morphology Lab, where she helped narrow a list of actin binding genes to establish their expression profile in early embryo development. 

In graduate school, Maywar plans to study the role of the prothrombinase complex in the blood coagulation cascade by resolving its structure at different stages of its mechanism. “I am fascinated by blood mechanisms and am eager to learn more about its coagulation in normal and diseased states,” she said. 

“Anna embodies outstanding excellence in academics and volunteer research and service, and leadership roles in organizations that have enriched the University of Pittsburgh environment,” said Arash Mahboobin, associate professor of bioengineering and undergraduate program director. “Anna is a truly exceptional student and person and a source of delight to the Department of Bioengineering. I am extremely proud of her accomplishments and have every confidence that she will continue to make important, and magnificent, contributions in her endeavors, and has the qualifications to succeed.”

The Churchill Scholarship winner is expected to be announced in December 2022.