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Current Recipients

The International Foundation for Ethical Research (IFER) is pleased to announce the recipients of 2024-25 IFER Graduate Fellowships for Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Science.

Virginia Bruno

2026 -

University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Mentor: Dr. Jianbo Zhang

Human iPSCs and primary organoid-derived visceral pain-on-a-chip model to study Candida albicans pathogenesis in inflammatory bowel disease

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Eunho Choi

2024 - 2026

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Deajeon, Korea

Mentor: Dr. Woojung Shin

“Application of a human colon-on-a-chip for the validation of living therapeutics to replace and reduce animal testing”

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Filipa Maria Ribeiro Soeiro de Carvalho

2024 - 2026

University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware

Mentor: Dr. Jason Gleghorn

“Development of a novel in vitro model of the human female cervicovaginal region to investigate host-pathogen interactions”

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Dowlette Alam El Din

2023 - 2026

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Mentor: Dr. Lena Smirnova

“Exploring the impact of chronic low dose domoic acid exposure on brain development and cognitive functions in 3D brain organoids”

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Alexis Feidler

2026 -

University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

Mentor: James McGrath, PhD

Using iPSCs to model the combined effects of aging and genetics on the human blood-brain barrier

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Cora Ferguson

2026 -

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon

Mentor: University of Oregon

Engineering a hormonally tunable cartilage microphysiological system to investigate the role of estrogen in inflammatory cartilage degeneration

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Yuhao (Lauren) Gao

2026 -

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

Mentor: Fikri Birey, PhD

Human Locus Coeruleus Organoids as a Human Cellular Model for Understanding Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis

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Zixie Liang

2026 -

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Mentor: Dr. Michale Mak and Dr. Stuart Campbell

Developing a Functional 3D-Bioprinted Human Cardiac Ventricle for In Situ Modeling of Cardiac Fibrosis and Animal-Free Drug Testing

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Lunan Liu

2024 - 2026

New York University, Brooklyn, New York

Mentor: Dr. Weiqiang Chen

“Organoids-on-a-Chip Model: a Human Avatar for Patient-Specific Tumor Microenvironment Modeling and Immunotherapy Testing”

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Lucy Luo

2026 -

Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

Mentor: Dr. Alexander Misharin

Emergence of CXCL9+/CCL13+ monocyte-derived interstitial macrophages and CD8+ T cells leads to chronic dysfunction in lung transplant recipients

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Elizabeth Marr

2026 -

Tufts University, Tufts University, Massachusetts

Mentor: Juan S. Gnecco, PhD

Elucidating the mechanisms of human fertility using an organoid model of implantation

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Eliska Rehurkova

2024 - 2026

Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Mentor: Dr. Iva Sovadinová

“Stem Cell-Based Leydig Cell Models for Reprotoxicity Testing and Biomedicine Applications”

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Nisan Sele

2026 -

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

Mentor: Fikri Birey, PhD

Uncovering Mechanisms of Human Neuronal Maturation Through In Vitro and Ex Vivo Dissection of the Subplate

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Cheick Sissoko

2026 -

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

Mentor: Ricardo Barrile, PhD

Microfluidic-based sensor-enabled Neurovascular unit for modeling Alzheimer’s Disease impact on the brain vasculature

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Mingzhi Xu

2023 - 2026

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Mentor: Dr. George Truskey

“An integrated microfluidic system with engineered blood vessel mimic and skeletal muscle to investigate the relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis”

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Our Past Recipients

Check out the projects of the researchers that have received IFER funding.

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