Fellowship Nominees Look to Extend Excellence from Northeastern to the UK and Ireland

The Rhodes, Marshall, and Mitchell Scholarships—which fund study in the United Kingdom and Ireland—are among the most prestigious postgraduate awards in the world. This year Northeastern University is proud to have nominated its largest-ever slate of applicants for these extraordinary opportunities. These students and recent alumni, who have been selected to represent Northeastern at highest level nationally and internationally, embody the best of our global, experiential research university: academic excellence, consequential research and creative endeavor, dedicated service to others, and an aspiration to apply their prodigious talents and skills to improving our world. Read on to meet these exceptional young people.

Juan Gallego CSSH’20
Major: Political Science
Award Nominations: Rhodes Scholarship
Juan Gallego envisions a day when full participation and representation reinvigorate our democratic institutions, with a particular focus on increasing Latinx participation in the political process. Juan is working to achieve this from the grassroots up. After several family members experienced racist behavior in his hometown of Chelsea, Massachusetts, Juan pressed the city to establish a Human Rights Commission and became one of the commission’s inaugural appointed members. His further work has included policy research on topics ranging from the implications of Uber in Salem to nuclear non-proliferation in North Korea; a co-op in constituent advocacy for U.S. Senator Edward Markey; and the management of multiple local campaigns’ get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts tailored specifically towards non-English speakers. Juan’s commitment to mentoring young people and strengthening his community is also visible in his service as a football coach at Bishop Connolly High School and Randolph High School. A 2019 Truman Scholar who has worked closely with both the mayor of Salem and Northeastern Distinguished Professor and former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, Juan hopes one day to run for elected office. To deepen his skills in preparation for this career and provide a strong fundamental understanding of some of the challenges now confronting Latinx Americans, Juan has applied for the Rhodes Scholarship to study both public policy and the history of Latin America at Oxford.

Leila Habib COS’20
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience Minor: Photojournalism
Award Nominations: Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship
A scientist and a storyteller, Leila Habib has a passion for promoting the health and flourishing of immigrants and people of color, as well as documenting their lives and experiences. While excelling in her study of behavioral neuroscience, she also undertook multiple projects focused on the Ethiopian diaspora in particular during her time at Northeastern. Supported by a Summer Scholars Independent Research Fellowship and other grants from Northeastern, she explored the identities and experiences of members of this diaspora by interviewing and photographing 68 people of Ethiopian descent living in the US and Australia between May 2018 and April 2019.  She subsequently received an additional Northeastern Summer Scholars Independent Research Fellowship to conduct oral history interviews with Ethiopian emigres who left the country during the Derg era. Her research experiences while an undergraduate additionally included work at Northeastern’s Social Interaction Lab and Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research, as well as a research assistantship with Cambridge-area company PatientsLikeMe. While at Northeastern, Leila also helped to establish the College of Science Student Diversity Advisory Council and founded Roots Through Photos, an initiative that offered photography workshops to area youth at a local community center. She went on to play leadership roles in both organizations, as well as the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students, Students Against Institutional Discrimination, and a campus magazine.  A University Scholar and Honors student during her time at Northeastern, Leila graduated summa cum laude earlier this year.

Morgan Hines COS/CSSH’19
Majors: Biology and English
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship
At Northeastern, University Scholar and Honors student Morgan Hines spanned traditional disciplinary boundaries to interrogate the injustices of the past, investigate the inequities of the present, and intervene in the institutions of the future. Moving outward from her rigorous biology curriculum, Morgan completed a first lab-based co-op at Harvard Medical School, after which she began her long involvement in the study of infants’ neurological and physiological development, particularly the influence of environmental and social determinants on the ability to ingest food and vocalize, within Northeastern’s Speech and Neurodevelopment Lab. At the same time, Morgan rose through the leadership of End Neglected Diseases, a student group that advocates for scientific and policy initiatives to eradicate the seven most common neglected tropical diseases—a group of largely curable diseases that garner little attention and funding because they affect the world’s most forgotten. Morgan also knows that the injustices that shape today’s health disparities have their roots in centuries of inequity. This is why Morgan, future physician, listens to the stories of the past. For four years, Morgan has researched descriptions of adverse health events in 18th and 19th-century autobiographies of enslaved persons in the United States, using her enormous literary sensitivity as well as her skill in computer-aided textual analysis to trace lineages of physical and psychological trauma across these archives. A researcher and a storyteller, an anatomist and an archivist, a scientist and a humanist—Morgan hopes to study physician-patient communication both historically and contemporarily as preparation for a career as a physician and advocate.

Jared Hirschfield COS/CSSH’20
Major: Biology and Political Science
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship
Although he entered Northeastern intending to major in bioengineering, University Scholar and Honors student Jared Hirschfield rethought his plans upon discovering that the majority of premature deaths in the United States are attributable to environmental, social, economic, and behavioral factors—factors outside the traditional purview of medicine. His double major in biology and political science is indicative of the interdisciplinary approach Jared has taken to developing more holistic and comprehensive interventions in a broad spectrum of health-related areas. Inspired by a course in Law, Public Policy, and Human Behavior, Jared assists the Northeastern Law School’s Public Health Advocacy Institute in litigating against entities (most recently, vaping or e-cigarette companies) who damage public health; but ever devoted to community engagement, he volunteers at the foot clinic of Boston Healthcare for the Homeless and founded Northeastern’s chapter of the Petey Greene Program, which provides high-quality academic programming to incarcerated people. A co-op at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico broadened Jared’s perspective on the application of scientific and quantitative skills to systemic, nationwide problems like human trafficking and illicit drug supplies. A subsequent co-op at the National Center for Health Research, a DC-based think tank, involved Jared in the nitty-gritty of the FDA rulemaking process, as he researched and drafted commentary for both governmental and public audiences. This past summer, Jared earned a Summer Scholars Independent Research Fellowship to document, through interviews and a photo essay, racial health disparities in Alabama’s rural Black Belt counties. He aspires to become an attorney, wielding the tools of law and policy in the ongoing struggle for equality.

Maggie King CSSH’20
Major: Political Science and International Affairs
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship, Mitchell Scholarship
Maggie King believes that for democracy to function, political power, economic opportunity, and civic vitality must infuse all our communities, transcending a deeply troubling and accelerating urban-rural divide. In her quest to strengthen participatory democracy, Maggie has already built a successful chapter of a major political organization from scratch, implemented a social justice curriculum in local schools, and found common cause with rural people around the globe. Maggie began laying the groundwork for Northeastern’s chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, a national advocacy organization, before she even arrived on campus; the thriving chapter she founded went on to be named “Best New Chapter” by the national organization, while Maggie was elevated to New England chapter coordinator. A similar commitment prompted her to study political organizing at the Highlander Institute and to co-lead a team which earned a Bridge-Builder Award to design, implement, and evaluate the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance curriculum, a hands-on social justice empowerment program, in local schools. Taking a broad global perspective, Maggie has also led youth empowerment workshops as part of a service-learning trip to Tanzania, researched issues pertaining to young people, women, and refugee populations in Jordan, and studied abroad in China. More recently, Maggie completed an impressive multinational research project on the barriers faced by rural people—and their strategies for overcoming them—in Nepal, Jordan, and Chile. Harnessing her intellectual prowess for impact, Maggie shared her results with stakeholders in each location, connecting rural residents across three continents. A 2019 Truman Scholarship finalist, Maggie hopes to earn degrees in law and public affairs and to work in organizing and advocacy on a national scale.

Jaclyn “Jackie” Long COE’20
Major: Bioengineering
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship
Jaclyn Long, a talented bioengineer and member of the Honors Program, has set her sights on the next frontier of biological discovery: the vast amounts of data generated by highly advanced analyses of the structure, function, and interaction of genomes, proteins, and other major factors in health and disease. At Northeastern, Jackie has developed a formidable quiver of tools for scientific impact, conducting research on campus and within other regional hubs of biotechnical innovation: imaging the neural circuits of larval fish at Harvard, emulating human organs on a chip at the Wyss Institute, genetically engineeringnatural killer cells to attack cancer at Editas Medicine, conducting in vivo tumor experiments in the Sitkovsky Lab at Northeastern, and doing cutting edge immunology research in Professor Arlene Sharpe’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School. Outside of the classroom and research environments, Jackie has been instrumental in helping other bioengineering students and women scientists follow in her accomplished footsteps, serving in a variety of leadership roles culminating in the presidencies of both the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the Society of Women Engineers.

Kathleen “Katie” Owens COS’20
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship
Katie Owens demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the social and economic systems that stratify and divide our society, and she has developed an array of intellectual, medical, and spiritual tools for working to bridge these gaps. A behavioral neuroscience major, Honors student, and University Scholar, Katie has pursued research to elucidate the bases of both the neuroscience that she studies and the health disparities she aims to address. She recruited visitors to Boston’s Museum of Science to participate in a “living laboratory” where their movements would be analyzed, and at Northeastern’s Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research, Katie contributed to an important multimodal study of suicide in the construction industry. On co-op at Boston Medical Center, Katie saw firsthand the health effects of social factors like race, class, immigration status, and English proficiency and distilled her observations into policy recommendations for supportive programs. She has also worked with local artisans in Peru and in corporate responsibility at John Hancock. Building healthy communities has been a major focus of Katie’s extracurricular life as well. As a resident assistant in a first-year residence hall, she has promoted inclusion and belonging amongst those joining the university community. As president of Northeastern’s Interfaith Council and an active volunteer in the greater Boston area interfaith community, Katie worked to bridge yet another set of cultural divides. Katie aspires to become a physician, applying her understanding of individual and social wellbeing to heal people and communities.

Kritika Singh COE’20
Major: Bioengineering
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship, Mitchell Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship
Kritika Singh’s work on neglected diseases—that is, a set of diseases common in low-income populations that receive little attention or research funding because of those they impact and the fact that, though they significantly impair human health, they are often non-lethal—combines the tools of biomedical research, clinical practice, and global health policy. A highly decorated scientific researcher, recipient of both the Thermo Fisher Scientific Antibody Scholarship and the Goldwater Scholarship, Kritika spent a year as a research assistant in a malaria immunology lab at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases while in high school and, with the support of the Summer Scholars Independent Research Fellowship, has worked for over two years on epigenetics and malaria in the Mazitschek Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. But Kritika, who is a member of the University Scholars and Honors Programs, understands that science alone will not eradicate disease, and in parallel with her research, she has also developed skills in policy and advocacy to amplify her impact. She founded and directs a nonprofit organization, Malaria Free World, which engages in peer-to-peer education, fundraising, and political lobbying, and she has worked to empower others through the Northeastern University Global Health Initiative (NUGHI), which she also founded. Kritika and the NUGHI team earned a Service/Research Project Award to produce one of the largest student-led undergraduate global health conferences in the nation, bringing together a broad interdisciplinary range of students, practitioners, and experts who embodied Kritika’s collaborative vision for making change. In recognition of her advocacy, Kritika earned a Truman Scholarship last year. Kritika plans to earn a master’s degree in Global Health Science and Epidemiology or Medical Anthropology alongside the MD/PhD to prepare her for a career at the intersection of cutting-edge bioscience, translational care, and public health advocacy.

Michael Tormey COE/CSSH’20
Major: Civil Engineering and Economics
Award Nominations: Marshall Scholarship, Mitchell Scholarship, Rhodes Scholarship
Michael Tormey views transportation planning not as an issue of maximizing commuters’ convenience, but rather as an issue of equity and justice: a way to ensure that all communities have the opportunities to thrive enabled by reliable connections to centers of employment, education, and healthcare. To this challenge Mike brings both technical expertise and a people-oriented, civic-minded vision of collaborative leadership. An ethic of community engagement is visible across Mike’s global learning and service experiences, including an Alternative Spring Break to Cuba, Dialogue of Civilizations to Japan, and research on green space development in Singapore and Jakarta. As a senior resident assistant, a teaching assistant, and an Alternative Spring Break coordinator, Mike has refined institutional processes and structures to ensure that his peers maximize their opportunities for full community engagement. While on co-op at the Boston Planning and Development Agency, Mike led the development of a plan to improve all modes of transportation in the Glover’s Corner section of Dorchester. As a result of his conscientious involvement of community stakeholders, the project enjoys wide support; as a result of his dedication and skill, he saved the BPDA over $50,000 in consulting fees, money which has instead gone to expedite construction. Working at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency this summer, Mike redesigned two intersections in Golden Gate Park, among other highly visible infrastructure projects. A member of the University Scholars and Honors Programs and a 2019 Truman Scholarship Finalist, Mike aspires to a career at the forefront of urban planning and transportation advocacy.

Claire Williams COS’20
Major: Biochemistry
Award Nominations: Mitchell Scholarship
Traditional strategies for conserving endangered species rely mainly on restoring populations through breeding programs and habitat protection. However, as we learn more about the roles of microbes in mediating their host organisms’ health and disease, there appears to be great promise in exploring the impact of the microbiome in conservation of endangered species. Claire Williams’s goal is to integrate microbiome research and conservation research, studying animals as meta-organisms with complex communities of microbes. Claire, a biochemistry major, began her research career in the lab of Professor Slava Epstein, where she established a microbial culture collection from Arctic soil and began to comprehend the role of microbes in large ecosystems. Her next project involved collaborating with colleagues from engineering, physics, and biology to develop a novel microbial cultivation device. Research conducted in Dublin, Ireland, shifted Claire’s interests toward environmental sustainability—an interest she was able to integrate with her expertise in the microbiome through a project at Harvard’s Rowland Institute, which involved studying pesticide-induced changes in the microbiome of threatened honeybees. Now, Claire is working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to carry out an independent project evaluating the impact of climate warming on the microbiome of a lizard. Claire’s illustrious research career was recognized with a Goldwater Scholarship in 2019. Through all of this, Claire has maintained a longstanding commitment to mentorship, cultivating the next generation of STEM students through the Science Club for Girls and designing engaging, educational devices for elementary school science kits. She plans to pursue graduate study in microbiology and conservation and devote her career to restoring and maintaining our planet’s biodiversity.