Wishnok Prize

Source: https://be.mit.edu/our-community/awards/wishnok-prize/ Parent: https://be.mit.edu/undergraduate-program/bme-minor/

The Wishnok Prize for the Bioengineering and Toxicology Seminar (BATS) was established by the Department of Biological Engineering in 2015 in honor of Pete Wishnok, who led BATS for over three decades. The Wishnok Prize is awarded for the best talks in the Fall and Spring Semesters.

Recent Winners

3rd Year Students Fall 2025 (awarded February 6, 2026)

• Winner: Ariana Barrero, Birnbaum Lab
• Runner-up: Lauren “Ren” Ramlan, Voigt & Kong Labs
• Honorable Mention: Allison Glynn, Ribbeck & Raines Labs

Past Winners

4th Year Students Spring 2025 (awarded September 12, 2025)

• Winner: William Pinney, Wittrup & Irvine Labs
• Runner-up: Veronica Pister, Fraenkel Lab
• Honorable Mention: Nicholas Nolan, Del Vecchio & Collins Labs\

3rd Year Students Fall 2024 (awarded February 14, 2025)

• Winner: Evan Collins, Langer & Anderson Labs
• Runner-up: Anastasiya Grebin, Blainey & Love Labs
• Honorable Mention: Victoria Chen, Voigt Lab
• Honorable Mention: Blythe Irwin, Birnbaum & DeKosky Labs

4th Year Students Spring 2024 (awarded September 6, 2024)

• Winner: Christine Wiggins, Lauffenburger Lab
• Runner-up: Christine Zheng, Bryson Lab
• Honorable Mention: Sarah Duquette, Manalis Lab
• Honorable Mention: Catherine Della Santina, Boyden and Boyer Labs

3rd Year Students Fall 2023 (awarded March 4, 2024)

• Winner: Kaiyi Jiang, Laboratory of Michael Birnbaum
• Runner-up: Daniel Pascal, Laboratory of Christopher Voigt
• Honorable Mention: Jessica Sun, Laboratory of Christopher Voigt

4th Year Students Spring 2023 (awarded September 15, 2023)

• Winner: Viraat Goel, Laboratory of Anders Hansen
• Runner-up: Ellen Kan, Laboratories of Linda Griffith and Roger Kamm
• Runner-up: Owen Leddy, Laboratories of Bryan Bryson and Forest White
• Honorable Mention: Jeff Hsiao, Laboratories of Katherina Ribbeck and Galit Alter

3rd Year Students Fall 2022 (awarded February 10, 2023)

• Winner: Catherine Della Santina, Laboratories of Laurie Boyer and Ed Boyden
• Runner-up: Christine Zheng, Laboratory of Bryan Bryson
• Honorable Mention: David Kastner, Laboratories of Forest White and Heather Kulik
• Honorable Mention: Kasey Love, Laboratory of Katie Galloway

3rd Year Students 2021-2022 (awarded February 11, 2022)

• Winner: Viraat Goel, Laboratory of Anders Sejr Hansen
• Runner-up: Kalon Overholt, Laboratories of Doug Lauffenburger, Domitilla Del Vecchio, and Richard Young
• Honorable Mention: Owen Leddy, Laboratories of Bryan Bryson and Forest White

4th Year Students Spring 2021 (awarded February 11, 2022)

• Winner: Sydney Solomon, Laboratory of Bryan Bryson
• Winner: Josh Peters, Laboratories of Bryan Bryson and Paul Blainey
• Honorable Mention: Noreen Wauford, Laboratory of Ron Weiss
• Honorable Mention: Anna Le, Laboratory of Paul Blainey

3rd Year Students 2020-2021 (awarded April 20, 2021)

• Winner: Cal Gunnarsson, Laboratory of Bryan Bryson
• Runner-up:Blake Lash,  Laboratory of Feng Zhang
• Honorable Mention: Jacqueline Valeri, Laboratory of James Collins

Spring 2020 (awarded November 18, 2020)

• Winner: Nico Agenent-Mari, Laboratory of Jim Collins
• Runner-up: Meelim Lee, Laboratory of Doug Lauffenburger
• Honorable Mention: Konstantin Krismer, Laboratory of David Gifford

Fall 2019 (awarded December 20, 2019)

• Winner: Corban Swain, Laboratory of Ed Boyden
• Runner-up: Brooke Huisman, Laboratory of Michael Birnbaum
• Honorable Mention: Atti English, Laboratory of Jim Collins
• Honorable Mention: Josh Peters, Laboratories of Bryan Bryson and Paul Blainey

Spring 2019 (awarded October 15, 2019)

• Winner: Noor Momin, Laboratory of Dane Wittrup
• Runner-up: Lauren Stopfer, Laboratories of Forest White and Doug Lauffenburger
• Honorable Mentions: Lauren Milling, Laboratory of Darrell Irvine
• Honorable Mentions: Jared Kehe, Laboratory of Paul Blainey

Fall 2018 (awarded October 15, 2019)

• Winner: Molly Parsons, Laboratory of Mark Bathe
• Runner-up: Jacqueline Gerritsen, Laboratory of Forest White
• Runner-up: Connor Dobson, Laboratory of Michael Birnbaum

Spring 2018 (awarded October 9, 2018)

• Winner: Manu Kumar, Laboratory of Doug Lauffenburger
• Runner-up: Linyi Gao, Laboratory of Feng Zang
• Honorable Mention: Shelby Doyle, Laboratory of Angela Koehler
• Honorable Mention: Malvika Verma, Laboratory of Robert S. Langer

Fall 2017 (awarded October 9, 2018)

• Winner: Robert Wilson, Laboratory of Angela Koehler
• Runner-up: Noor Momin, Laboratory of K. Dane Wittrup
• Honorable Mention: Jared Kehe, Laboratories of Paul Blainey and Pardis Sabeti
• Honorable Mention: Lauren Milling, Laboratory of Darrell Irvine

Spring 2017 (awarded October 10, 2017)

• Winner: Jacob Borrajo, Laboratory of Paul Blainey
• Runner-up: Adrienne Rothschilds, Laboratory of K. Dane Wittrup
• Honorable Mention: Deena Rennerfeldt, Laboratory of Krystyn J. Van Vliet

Fall 2016 (awarded February 17, 2017)

• Winner: Linyi Gao, Laboratory of Feng Zhang
• Runner-up: Alison Tisdale, Laboratory of K. Dane Wittrup
• Honorable Mention: Ally Huang, Laboratory of Ram Sasisekharan

Spring 2016 (awarded September 16, 2016)

• Winner: Vibhuti Agrawal, Laboratory of Forest White
• Runner-up: Kelly Moynihan, Laboratory of Darrell Irvine
• Honorable Mention: Reginald Avery, Laboratory of Bradley D. Olsen

Fall 2015 (awarded Februrary 12, 2016)

• Winner: Andrew Chen, Laboratory of Angela Koehler
• Runner-up: Breanna Stillo, Laboratory of Ron Weiss