The MPS World Summit 2026 Conference Organizers are pleased to announce several awards for the MPS World Summit in Washington, DC.
Congratulations to the 2026 MPS World Summit Travel Award Winners!
Student and Postdoctoral Researcher Travel Awards
These awards are distributed among domestic undergraduate and graduate students, domestic postdoctoral researchers, international undergraduate and graduate students, and international postdoctoral researchers.
Daniela Gaebler, MSc
University of California Irvine, USA
Kamilė Kasperavičiūtė
Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC), Vilnius, Lithuania
Janet Kwon, M. Eng.
Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of California, Davis, USA
Angelo Massaro, PhD
North Carolina State University & University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Thi Kim Ngan Ngo, MS
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Brady Rae
University Medical Centre Groningen, EXPIRE Lab, the Netherlands
Anne Rindchen, MSc
Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland, Germany
Fadoua El Abdellaoui Soussi, PhD
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, USA
Travel Awards for Scientists from Low- and Middle-Income Countries
These travel awards are offered by iMPSS to individuals from developing countries where microphysiological systems are underrepresented to allow them to attend the MPS World Summit.
Gulin Baran, PhD
Sabanci University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Ana Clara Bastos
CNPEM, Brazil
Mubeen Goolam, PhD
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Nipun Jain
Indian Institute of Science, India
Amanda Maciel Lima
MVBio, Brazil
Ilva de Fátima Souza
Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys, Brazil
Pitaksit Supjaroen, PhD
Centre of Excellence for Biosensors and Bioengineering,
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Vanitha Thurairasu, MD, MPH
Public Health Officer, Ministry of Health, Malaysia
Olivier Uwishema, MD
Oli Health Magazine Organization (OHMO), Rwanda
Best Poster and Oral Presentation Awards
Best Poster Presentation Awards
iMPSS will give awards for outstanding posters from early career scientists and young investigators. Early career scientists should fulfill one of the following criteria:
- As of May 26, 2026, the presenting author is currently enrolled as a full-time student.
- The presenting author received their highest degree after May 26, 2021.
The winners are selected based on scientific excellence, innovation, and clarity of the presentation. iMPSS is pleased to award the 1st place prize of $750 to Ronit Mohapatra of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. The 2nd place prize of $500, proudly sponsored by Micromachines, is awarded to Melika Mehrabi Dehdezi of The University of Texas at Austin. And the 3rd place prize of $250 is awarded to Connor Robinson of the University of Arkansas.
Best Oral Presentation Awards
iMPSS will give awards for outstanding oral presentations by early-career scientists. Early-career scientists should fulfill one of the following criteria:
- As of May 26, 2026, the presenting author is currently enrolled as a full-time student.
- The presenting author received their highest degree after May 26, 2021.
iMPSS is pleased to award the 1st place prize of $1,000 to Kyle Jerreld of the University of Rochester. The 2nd place prize of $800 is awarded to Jiajing Zhang of NCATS. And the 3rd place prize of $600 is awarded to Tamara Rossy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Additional Awards and Grants for the
2026 MPS World Summit
Best Oral Presentation Award
The Organoid Developer Conference will confer a $250USD Best Oral Presentation award to a young investigator in the field of organoids at the 2026 MPS World Summit. The ODC is pleased to confer this award on Antonio J. Ortega of Johns Hopkins University.
Best Poster Presentation Award
The Organoid Developer Conference will confer a $250USD Best Research Poster award to a young investigator presenting organoids-focused research in a poster presentation at the 2026 MPS World Summit. The ODC is pleased to present this prize to Munzareen Khan of the AbbVie Bioresearch Center.
Best Poster Presentation Award
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine will confer a $500USD Best Nonanimal Research Poster award for an attendee presenting animal-free research in a poster presentation at the 2026 MPS World Summit. PCRM is pleased to present this prize to Adrian Weghofer of the University of Tuebingen.
Best Poster Presentation Awards
The Japan MPS Initiative will grant 2 awards of $300USD each, 1 to a young investigator from Asia and 1 to a young investigator from another region. The Japan MPS Initiative is please to confer these awards on Yunji Lee of POSTECH, Korea and Nikita Karra-Bhardwaj of GSK, United Kingdom.