Alum Fatima Mikdashi Named 2022 Marshall Scholarship Finalist

University of Maryland (UMD) Fischell Department of Bioengineering alum Fatima "Tima" Mikdashi (B.S. '21) was named a 2022 Marshall Scholarship finalist along with UMD finance and philosophy student Jennifer Wang (B.S. '22). The Marshall Scholarship, one of the prestigious academic awards available to college students, finances young Americans of high ability to study for a graduate degree in the United Kingdom.

Mikdashi, an aspiring infectious disease specialist, co-founded UMD’s Engineering World Health chapter, a student group dedicated to better equipping clinics in the developing world with medical devices.

She currently works as a data analyst for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is interested in new technologies that can augment outbreak control interventions and mitigate disease propagation.

While at UMD, Mikdashi majored in bioengineering with a minor in technology entrepreneurship and was the recipient of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering Outstanding Leadership Award, the Honors College Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program's Leadership Award, and three Do Good Mini Grants. Her research projects included comparing COVID-19 contact tracing applications and developing a measles caseload and vaccination data tracker.

"From the moment we met Tima, we were impressed by not only her infectious enthusiasm for public health, but also her ability to rapidly make sense of complex data and communicate her thoughts to diverse audiences, ranging from policy experts, to engineers, to visual designers," said Stephanie Eaneff, a senior data scientist who worked with Mikdashi on several projects. "Tima asks some of the most insightful questions of anyone we have ever worked with."

This text was provided by the University of Maryland Office of Undergraduate Studies. Read the full story online.

Published December 16, 2021