The UAB Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) graduate program received seven Blazer Fellowships in 2022, and a bioinformatics student recently etched his name as a part of this notable accomplishment.

Samuel Bharti, a college student from India, will be the first-ever Bioinformatics BME Ph.D. student to receive the Blazer Fellowship. As part of his fellowship, Bharti will receive assistance in payment for a two-year stipend, tuition, and health insurance. As an undergraduate student, he previously volunteered to assist Jake Chen, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics and Computer Science, with the publication of several papers since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

“Bioinformatics has progressed over the past three decades, from an in silico study of sequence, structure, and functional analysis, to multi-omics and clinical data integration, AI/ML modeling to predict health outcomes, and engineering-based systems science simulation to understand causal relationships to diseases, Chen said.

“Therefore, our Ph.D. in Bioinformatics developed as a partnership with the School of Medicine and is well-positioned to help train next-generation Academic leaders in this evolving interdisciplinary area.”

The BME Ph.D. program implements various elements of biology, medicine, and engineering, leading to potential discoveries in biomedical engineering that correlate to public health and clinical medicine. Bharti’s award will enable him to focus on generating new ideas for impactful work ahead in his Ph.D. studies.

Within the BME Ph.D. program, some of the research areas focused on by the department include biomedical imaging, biomedical implants and devices, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and cardiac electrophysiology.

For more information about the BME Ph.D. program, please go to Ph.D. Program - School of Engineering -Biomedical Engineering | UAB