MIT senior Katie Spivakovsky has been selected as a 2026-27 Churchill Scholar and will undertake an MPhil in biological sciences at the Wellcome Sanger Institute at Cambridge University in the U.K. this fall. Spivakovsky, who is double-majoring in biological engineering and artificial intelligence, with minors in mathematics and biology, aims to integrate computation and bioengineering in an academic research career focused on developing robust, scalable solutions that promote equitable health outcomes. At MIT's Bathe BioNanoLab, Spivakovsky investigates therapeutic applications of DNA origami, DNA-scaffolded nanoparticles for gene and mRNA delivery, and co-authored a manuscript in press at Science. She leads the development of an immune therapy for cancer cachexia with a team supported by MIT's BioMakerSpace; this work earned a silver medal at the international synthetic biology competition iGEM and was published in the MIT Undergraduate Research Journal. Previously, she worked on...
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