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.

Jheannelle Johnson (@JheannelleJ) is one of the Rising Black Scientists Awards’ winners in the category of life and health sciences. After receiving her bachelor’s at Howard University, she’s now completing a Neurodegeneration Computational Fellowship at Stanford University, where her work centers on understanding cell vulnerability in Alzheimer’s disease. She also serves as the development director for the non-profit organization Black in Neuro, whose aim is to empower Black scholars and professionals in neuroscience. In her essay “The sounds of music: Tracing memories and pathways through research and resistance,” she shares how music offered her a window to connect with her grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and this musical connection sparked her journey into studying both the molecular and societal underpinnings of the disease.  

As a computer science undergraduate at Philander Smith University, she has co-led a team to design an award-winning AI-driven literacy-support prototype to assist students in Detroit and has worked on a National Science Foundation project to develop an intelligent learning support AI-powered iOS app.

LaNell A. Williams is a PhD Candidate and NSF GRFP Fellow at Harvard University. Her research focuses on understanding the self assembly of RNA-Viruses, in particular, the Bacteriophage MS2. She graduated from Wesleyan University with her BA in physics, and she went on to receive her MA in physics from Fisk University before going to Harvard. LaNell has also been heavily involved in programming with the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Additionally, she serves on the American Physical Society Council of Representatives representing the Forum on Graduate Students & the Forum on Early Careers. She is the founder of the Women+ of Color Project and hopes to encourage more BIWOC to pursue academic careers.

Trained as an electrical engineer at Ashesi University in Ghana, she has developed affordable, sustainable devices such as an air pollution detectors and solar cookers. She recently defended her master’s thesis at Michigan Technological University, where her research centered on building just energy transitions in underserved communities.

Temitope Adeniyi is a PhD researcher at Cleveland State University working at the intersection of quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and data-driven healthcare. Her research focuses on quantum sensing, reinforcement learning, and machine learning for early disease detection. She is the Programme Lead at the Africa Quantum Consortium, advancing talent development and research collaboration across Africa. Her work has been recognized through selection to UNESCO’s Quantum 100 and as the 2024 Femtum Quantum Rising Star Award winner, and she actively supports quantum education through university teaching and high school outreach initiatives.