First Receipient of the Schoenbach Endowed Fellowship in Bioelectrics
By: Hannah Kearse
As the first recipient of the Karl H. & Gisela M. Schoenbach Endowed Fellowship in Bioelectrics, Mr. Ayobami "Edwin" Oshin, said he will forever be grateful for this honor. Mr. Oshin is an underrepresented minority student working on his doctorate degree in Biomedical Engineering at ODU and the Center for Bioelectrics. "I feel very humbled to be the first recipient of this award. It makes me want to work even harder. I also feel so grateful to Dr. Karl Schoenbach and Mrs. Gisela Schoenbach for supporting underrepresented students in Bioelectrics," he says.
The Karl H. & Gisela M. Schoenbach Endowed Fellowship in Bioelectrics is a merit-based fellowship with a required minimum 3.2 GPA. Dr. Karl H. Schoenbach was the founding Director of the Center for Bioelectrics. He, along with Frank Reidy, used their collective passion to develop a research center devoted solely to the new science of bioelectrics.
The purpose of the fellowship is to offset tuition and fee costs for full-time doctorate students in their last two to three years of the doctorate degree program. This fellowship is a part of the Center for Bioelectrics Scholars Program which serves to develop the next generation of leading bioelectrical science, bioengineering, and bioscience researchers by providing a comprehensive research experience.
Dr. Gymama Slaughter, Executive Director of the Center said, the scholars program aims to recruit and train underrepresented students pursuing doctorate degrees in the biomedical research or related fields through research experiences in the center. This experience will provide underrepresented students the opportunity to conduct research in state-of-the-art facilities with top researchers."
Dr. Chunqi Jiang, Edwin's advisor and mentor, expressed, "This scholarship is good encouragement to attract more excellent students to the Center for Bioelectrics and graduate education in biomedical engineering and bioelectrics."
Mr. Oshin's dissertation focuses on the changes in electrical properties of plasma treated cancer cells. He explained that the intent is to monitor changes in the electrical properties before, during and after treatment with nanosecond pulsed plasma over a broadband frequency range and to compare this with histological assessments for the cells.
"Congratulations Mr. Edwin Oshin, the first student being elected to receive this Fellowship. The topic of your Ph.D. dissertation sounds very exciting, not only what the basic science studies on nonthermal plasma concerns, but also because of the potential for applications in cancer therapy. Our best wishes for you, Mr. Oshin in your research efforts," say Gisela and Karl Schoenbach.