Johnson & Johnson Announces Winners of 2020 Women in STEM²D Scholars Award

(New Brunswick, N.J. – June 18) – Johnson & Johnson today announced the six winners of the third annual Johnson & Johnson Women in STEM²D (WiSTEM²D) Scholars Award. Each recipient, representing each of the STEM²D disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Manufacturing and Design, will receive a grant of $150,000 and three years of mentorship.

Launched in June 2017, the Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM²D Scholars Award seeks to fuel development of future female STEM²D leaders and feed the STEM²D talent pipeline by awarding and sponsoring women at critical points in their careers. The goal is to support the research passion of the awarded women and inspire career paths in their respective STEM²D fields.

Nominations were open to female scholars working as assistant professors, or the global equivalent faculty position, in each of the STEM²D disciplines. The six winners were selected from a competitive field of more than 541 highly qualified nominees from around the world.
“Now more than ever, as we are faced with new, uncharted global challenges, we need to remain committed to driving innovation and ground-breaking research,” said Cat Oyler, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Janssen Global Services, LLC and WiSTEM²D University Sponsor. “These incredible women – and the many other up-and-coming female leaders – are making key STEM²D discoveries and shaping the future of tomorrow.”

JOHNSON & JOHNSON’s 2020 WISTEM²D SCHOLARS AWARD WINNERS
The winners and their research, across each of the six STEM²D disciplines, represent pivotal global innovations across diverse fields of interest. The recipients of the 2020 WiSTEM²D Scholars Award are:

• SCIENCE: Ilse Cleeves, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Astronomy, University of Virginia – Cleeves is studying the astrochemistry of planet-forming regions around young stars, exploring how pre-planet chemistry and physics affects a future planet’s ability to support life.

• TECHNOLOGY: Pallavi Tiwari, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University – Tiwari is spearheading cutting-edge research in the field of computational imaging, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to address some of the most critical clinical problems in brain tumors.

• ENGINEERING: Carolina Tropini, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia – Tropini is studying microbiology to engineer bacteria and microbial communities that can help treat inflammatory bowel disease.

• MANUFACTURING: Cynthia Sung, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania – Sung is studying origami-inspired manufacturing and robotics, with the goal of designing, developing and controlling soft, foldable robots that can be used in multiple environments, including healthcare procedures and medical applications.

• MATH: Samrachana Adhikari, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Biostatistics in the Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine – Adhikari is applying statistics, causal-inference and agent-based modeling to population health and clinical medicine, with the goal of making clinical analyses more robust and free of bias.

• DESIGN: Veronica Garcia-Hansen, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Queensland University of Technology – Garcia-Hansen is researching hospital lighting design to help improve health outcomes for patients and overall energy efficiency.

For more information, visit: https://www.jnj.com/wistem2d.

About Johnson & Johnson WiSTEM²D
Building a diverse STEM²D community is one approach Johnson & Johnson is taking as part of a broader effort to accelerate the development of women leaders and support women at all stages of their life to improve global health and well-being and drive sustainable economic growth. Johnson & Johnson launched the WiSTEM²D (Women in Science, Technology, Math, Manufacturing and Design) program in 2015 to increase the representation of women in science and technical fields. The program’s multifaceted approach is designed to engage females at three pivotal development stages in their lives:

• Youth (Ages 5 to 18 years): Johnson & Johnson is partnering with organizations to align curriculum in schools, augment program-based learning and engage Johnson & Johnson employees around the world as mentors to students.

• University: Johnson & Johnson is partnering with leading academic institutions to develop high-impact strategies for increasing the number of women enrolling in and graduating with STEM2D programs and degrees. At the graduate level, Johnson & Johnson has implemented to STEM2D Scholars Award to increase the number of women pursuing research in STEM2D fields.

• Professionals: Johnson & Johnson is identifying and implementing best practices for attracting and retaining the world’s best technical female talent.

About Johnson & Johnson
At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That’s why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world’s largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews.