Terrific Tigers

By Matt Wright ’24 on May 9, 2023

With the spring term coming to an end, it’s time for countless students to face new challenges at TU and beyond. 

Current and former Tigers have been recognized for their talents in health care, clinical research and computer science through fellowships, awards and scholarships from The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the National Institutes of Health and the Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum.   

The Johns Hopkins Hospital Occupational Therapy Fellowships

The Johns Hopkins Hospital has awarded Maddie Kaempfer ’21 and Leanna Washington ’23 occupational therapy fellowships with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Kaempfer, who graduated from the occupational therapy master’s program, was awarded the hand therapy fellowship. Washington, who graduates this spring from the entry-level occupational therapy doctorate program, was awarded the acute care occupational therapy fellowship. 

“I’m so grateful and humbled to be selected,” says Washington, a research advocate for sickle cell patients aiming to work with and rehabilitate adults with physical dysfunction. “The TU occupational therapy and occupational science department has been monumental in helping me achieve this accomplishment. They’ve facilitated growth in my confidence, work ethic and passion for occupational therapy.”

Washington looks forward to doing research during her fellowship and eventually becoming an occupational therapist professor.

The highly competitive, 12-month fellowships provide clinical exposure to all occupational therapy service lines and participation in the Johns Hopkins Hospital research development program. 

National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award

This summer, audiology doctoral students Katie Esser and Sadie O'Neill will conduct research through the National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Short-Term Institutional Research Training Grant, also known as the T35 research traineeship.

By placing doctoral students at eligible institutions for 8 to 12 weeks, the program enhances research training opportunities for students interested in careers in biomedical, behavioral or clinical research. 

Esser, a first-year doctoral student, will join four other trainees conducting research under the mentorship of faculty at Vanderbilt University’s Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences in Nashville, Tennessee. 

“The Au.D. faculty have been incredibly supportive from the beginning,” Esser says. “I am grateful for the guidance they have provided me throughout the application process and now as I prepare to start my T35.”

At Vanderbilt, Esser will be studying the benefits of captioning on reducing listening effort. 

And O’Neill, a second-year doctoral student, will conduct research in the Audiology Research Training Program at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.

“In my time at Towson I have been very lucky to learn from some incredible faculty in the speech-language pathology and audiology department,” says O’Neill. “Through their mentorship and encouragement, I've been able to pursue opportunities such as this for personal and professional development in the field.”

At Boys Town, O’Neill’s area of research will be examining the contribution of cognition to the development of spectral resolution in children. 

Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum Scholarship

Ryan Gilbert ’24, Priscilla Nornoo ’23, Anthony Saporito ’23, Toyin Oluiumu ’24 and Taylor Webb ’25—all students with majors in the Fisher College of Science & Mathematics Department of Computer & Information Sciences—were recognized for their hard work and interest in business and information technology with a total of $25,000 in scholarships from the Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum.

For Saporito, a computer science major with a cyber operations track and a minor in Italian, the scholarship not only reduces his tuition expenses, it enables him to pursue additional cybersecurity certifications this summer.

“All the challenging courses I have taken so far at TU, especially in the area of computer science and cyber operations, have prepared me for this opportunity,” says Saporito, who also honed leadership skills in executive board positions in the fraternities Phi Sigma Pi and Phi Kappa Psi and by being a mentor in the STEM Residential Learning Community.

The forum has provided more than $640,000 in scholarships to TU students studying computer science, computer information systems, information technology or business systems and processes since 2006. In addition to the financial support, scholars can attend the organization’s networking and educational events.

The Mid-Atlantic CIO Forum accepts scholarship applications in October for the spring term and March for the fall term.