Past winners
Agents of Change Awards
2024 winners
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Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez
Professor, University of Texas
United States
Dr. Elizabeth Cosgriff-Hernandez is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and holds the L.B. (Preach) Meaders Professorship in Engineering. She received a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University under the guidance of Professors Anne Hiltner and Jim Anderson.
She then completed a UT-TORCH Postdoctoral Fellowship with Professor Tony Mikos at Rice University with a focus in orthopaedic tissue engineering. Dr. Cosgriff-Hernandez joined the faculty of at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and the University of Texas at Austin in 2017. Her laboratory specializes in the synthesis of hybrid biomaterials with targeted integrin interactions and scaffold fabrication strategies.
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Orlando Rojas
Professor, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Bioproducts | Scientific Director, Bioproducts Institute
Orlando Rojas
Professor, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Bioproducts | Scientific Director, Bioproducts Institute
Canada
Professor Orlando Rojas is the Canada Excellence Research Chair at the University of British Columbia and Director of the Bioproducts Institute. His research focuses on bio-based materials and soft matter. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to renewable materials science, and has received several prestigious honors, including the Anselme Payen Award, the highest distinction in cellulose and renewable materials research.
He is an elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2013), the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (2017), and the TAPPI Association (2025). Earlier in his career, he served as a Finland Distinguished Professor and was named an inaugural Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University.
Prof. Rojas maintains active collaborations with institutions across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. He serves on the Selection Committee of the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and holds scientific advisory roles with organizations including the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, the VALUED Project (with Imperial College London, University of Bristol, and University of Cambridge), and the Materials Institute of the University of Santiago de Compostela.
He is Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology and Associate Editor of ACS Biomacromolecules. He is ranked among the top 1% of researchers globally by citations (Clarivate, Web of Science).
2023 winners
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Charlotte Berrezueta
Ph.D. candidate in physics, Freie Universität Berlin
Ecuador
Charlotte Berrezueta Palacios is a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the Freie Universität Berlin, specializing in low-dimensional materials using Raman spectroscopy. Originally from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, she earned her B.Sc. in nanotechnology engineering at Yachay Tech University before completing an M.Sc. in physics at the Freie Universität Berlin, where she continues her research in Prof. Stephanie Reich’s laboratory, focusing on 2D nanostructured materials, a field she has been working in since 2020. In addition to her academic pursuits, Charlotte is dedicated to science outreach. She co-chairs the Nanoscience Summer School at Yachay Tech (NSSY), a conference held in the Galapagos Islands that promotes student development and community engagement. She received the 2023 Materials Today Agents of Change Award for her contributions to NSSY.
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Vishal Chaudhary
Assistant professor, Bhagini Nivedita College, University of Delhi
India
Dr Vishal Chaudhary has been working as an assistant professor at the Bhagini Nivedita College, University of Delhi, India, since 2018. He is an expert in the field of green semiconductors at the nanoscale for One Health management, with a special focus on breath-based diagnosis, environmental sensors and waste-water remediation. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, 4 authored books, and 3 edited books in reputed journals. He has been recognised as Top 2% of Scientists in both 2023 and 2024 by the Stanford University List and is also serving as an associate editor and review editor in significant journals. He founded “The Happy Mentals Club” after battling depression during his doctorate tenure and started to aid the research community, especially students, for mental health-related help through his public talks and club events. He is the recipient of the 2023 Materials Today Agents of Change Award due to his dedicated work in the field of mental health for researchers. Currently, he is aiming to establish mental health clubs in academic and research institutes, examine the prevalence of mental health issues by conducting a survey during his talk and examining its causative factors, correlate mental health concerns with environmental factors, develop non-invasive biosensors to screen mental health, root out the stigma related to mental health, especially in LGBTQI+ community, and developing awareness on suicide prevention through his club and institute collaborative initiatives.
