Clemson bioengineering Ph.D. student wins back-to-back fellowships

Published: July 30, 2012

By Christina Cleveland

CLEMSON — Clemson University doctoral student Emily Ongstad was awarded the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Bioengineering Pre-Doctoral fellowship and the American Heart Association fellowship.

Ongstad, who originally is from St. Paul, Minn., received her undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Michigan Technological University. She received her master’s from the joint Clemson-MUSC bioengineering program and is a now working toward her Ph.D. in bioengineering at Clemson. She is a student of Rob Gourdie, adjunct professor of bioengineering.

“I am ecstatic,” she said. “Not only is it awesome to have a nationally competitive stipend, but it’s also a huge vote of confidence from the awarding organizations. I am so appreciative.”

To earn the National Institutes of Health fellowship, pre-doctoral students must propose a dissertation research project that correlates with the scientific mission of NIH. The American Heart Association (AHA) fellowship is awarded to students who pitch a study of an issue associated with cardiovascular disease or stroke.

Ongstad was offered the two awards this spring, but could only accept one of them. She chose the National Institutes of Health fellowship, which she received for her work on bioengineered muscle tissues. Her project proposal consisted of research into how skeletal muscle can be regenerated to help heal large, damaged muscle tissue.

With this fellowship, she will receive a stipend and tuition for three years and additional funding for travel to scientific conferences.    

Because the awards are highly competitive, Ongstad took a semester course preparing her fellowship proposal. The criteria for fellowships are based upon the scientific proposal, academics and the applicant’s adviser. 

“Emily already has a record of accomplishment and scientific publication that many post-docs would be happy with,” said Gourdie. “Her outstanding track record goes a long way in explaining why her fellowship applications did well at recent NIH and AHA study sections.”

Ongstad is one of several Clemson bioengineering undergraduate and graduate students who have been awarded nationally recognized funding this year.

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